Top Swiss court upholds landmark Liberia war crimes ruling

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The top Swiss court on Friday confirmed a ​guilty verdict against a Liberian warlord, ‌upholding his 20-year sentence in the country’s first-ever war crimes trial.Alieu Kosiah, who ​fought in the 1990s against ​then-president Charles Taylor’s army during Liberia’s ⁠brutal civil war, was originally sentenced to ​20 years in prison in June 2021 ​for rape, murder and cannibalism.An earlier appeal was rejected in 2023 by the Federal Criminal Court ​and the dismissal of his second ​appeal by Switzerland’s highest tribunal the Federal Supreme Court ‌published ⁠on Friday closes the case.“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.However, the court reversed a parallel conviction for crimes against humanity on the grounds that the 2011 law on this crime cannot be applied retroactively.