Swiss Supreme Court Finalizes Verdict for Liberian Warlord Alieu Kosiah

Switzerland’s Federal Supreme Court confirmed a 20-year prison sentence for Alieu Kosiah, a former rebel commander from Liberia, in a ruling published on Friday. The decision resolves a legal dispute that began when Kosiah was arrested in Switzerland in 2014 after settling in the country in the late 1990s.

The court issued its verdict on September 28 but made it public on Friday, October 30. The panel rejected the appeal filed by Kosiah, who is now 51 years old. He was originally convicted in 2021 by the Federal Criminal Court for atrocities committed during the first of Liberia’s two civil wars. That conflict resulted in the deaths of approximately 250,000 people between 1989 and 2003.

Kosiah served as a commander for the United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy. The 2021 verdict found him guilty of ordering or participating in the killing of 17 civilians and two unarmed soldiers between 1993 and 1995. The court also ruled that he ordered looting, used a child soldier, and subjected civilians to cruel and humiliating treatment, including the mishandling of corpses.

In 2023, an appeals chamber in Switzerland upheld the 20-year sentence for war crimes. That same panel also added a conviction for crimes against humanity, marking the first time Swiss law had applied that specific charge. However, the Supreme Court on Friday overturned that additional conviction. The judges ruled that the charge could not be applied retroactively because crimes against humanity were introduced into Swiss law in 2011, long after the acts in question took place.

Alain Werner, director of the organization Civitas Maxima, represented the victims in the case. He stated that survivors have now achieved final justice. Werner expressed disappointment regarding the acquittal on the crimes against humanity charge, describing the events in Lofa County between 1993 and 1995 as the definition of such a crime.

The ruling marks the end of the first war crimes conviction ever handed down by a Swiss civilian court. It is also the first conviction of a Liberian for war crimes committed during the country’s internal conflicts. Switzerland exercised universal jurisdiction to prosecute Kosiah, allowing the nation to try individuals for international crimes regardless of where the offenses occurred.

The Supreme Court’s statement noted that the rejection of the appeal finalized the conviction for violations of the laws of war. The maximum custodial sentence of 20 years remains in effect.