Swiss High Court Upholds Guilty Verdict against Liberian Warlord

Switzerland, Federal City: The Swiss Federal Supreme Court has maintained a guilty verdict against Liberian warlord Alieu Kosiah, holding his 20-year sentence intact.

Kosiah was initially handed down the 20-year sentence in June 2021 by a lower Swiss court following his conviction of multiple crimes committed during the First Liberian Civil War (1993–1995).

The former rebel commander was convicted of murder, rape, looting, and recruiting child soldiers, under the principle of universal jurisdiction.

Multiple International media outlets report that Alieu Kosiah and his legal team then took an appeal before the Swiss Federal Supreme Court, as he consistently maintained his innocence and demanded a full acquittal.

Kosiah insisted that he was simply not present at the scenes where the atrocities occurred in Liberia between 1993 and 1995.

However, Swiss Federal Supreme Court, the final arbiter of Justice in Switzerland, on Friday, October 30, in a landmark ruling rejected Kosiah's appeal and upheld the conviction of initial crimes against against him.

Meanwhile, high the court reversed a parallel conviction for crimes against humanity on the ⁠grounds that the law on this crime introduced in 2011 cannot be applied retroactively.

This means the Liberian warlord will continue serving his 20-year sentence in Switzerland where he was tried and convicted. The case comes as the country's first ever war crimes trial.

"This is a landmark decision, made possible by the courage of these victims, who have written a page ⁠of legal history," said Alain Werner, Director of Civitas Maxima, an NGO representing victims in this ⁠case.

Alieu Kosiah served as commander for the United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy (ULIMO), a rebel group that fought against Charles Taylor’s National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) during the First Liberian Civil War.

Reports say between 1993 and 1995, Kosiah led forces in Liberia's remote Lofa County and reportedly ordered and participated in widespread killings of civilians and unarmed soldiers.

Kosiah's past caught up with him when the civil rights group Civitas Maxima presented Swiss prosecutors with evidence of his wartime actions collected from Liberian victims—a situation that now develops into his confirmed sentencing.

This is happening at a time when Liberians back home continue to pressure their government to establish a War and Economic Crimes Court to prosecute war-time perpetrators.