Brutally raped woman pleading for justice.
Description
Brutally raped woman pleading for justice.
A woman testified in a Swiss court on Wednesday, 01/11/2023. She alleged that a former Liberian rebel commander, Alieu Kosiah, repeatedly raped her during the country's civil war. The testimony occurred on the first day of Kosiah's appeal to overturn 22 convictions for war crimes. Swiss prosecutors are also arguing that he committed crimes against humanity.
It could increase his 20-year sentence if his conviction is proven and he is found guilty on these counts. Kosiah fought against former Liberian President Charles Taylor's army in the 1990s. He already had charges of rape, murder, and cannibalism in Switzerland's first-ever war crimes trial.
The court is now considering crimes against humanity for the first time in a Swiss trial. The public left the courtroom to allow a plaintiff. He said she was raped by Kosiah when she was 14 years old. The lady even informed the court that she had a life threat from Kosiah if she refused to go along with him.
The Police arrested Kosiah in 2014 in Switzerland, where he had been living as a permanent resident. A 2011 Swiss law allowed prosecution for serious crimes committed in any place under the principle of universal jurisdiction. Kosiah denied the allegations and said he had never met the woman. His lawyer, Dimitri Gianoli, mentioned that he was not even present on the spot where the crime took place.
During Liberia's back-to-back wars between 1989-2003, thousands of people were mutilated and raped in clashes.
These involved drugged fighters and marauding child soldiers conscripted by warlords. Unlike neighboring Sierra Leone, which later held war crimes trials, no prosecutions have occurred in Liberia. The victims testifying in Switzerland have asked for anonymity for fear of reprisals.
The court will later hear from a man who alleged he witnessed Kosiah eat slices of a man's heart. Another person accuses him of stabbing him and ordering killings. The three judges will make a ruling later this year. Observers hope the case will galvanize other lengthy Swiss probes yet to go to court.
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