Alieu Kosiah

Arrested in Switzerland (Nov., 2014); officially indicted (March 2019); trial postponed ; trial opened (December, 2020);found guily (July 2021), gets 20 years in jail. 
Also see Civitas Maxima homepage:   Latest News

Facts on Alieu Kosiah 
Source: TRIAL INTERNATIONAL


The Trial that Made Swiss Judges Go Down in History
Source: Civitas Maxima
July 20, 2021

The article above is a translation of “Le procès qui a fait entrer des juges suisses dans l’histoire” originally posted on Le Temps on July 14, 2021. This article was part of the special Op Ed section on Le Temps dedicated to international justice, with Alain Werner, director of Civitas Maxima, serving as guest editor.
 

Liberia: Ex-ULIMO Commander Gets 20 Years in Switzerland for War Crimes
Source: Front Page Africa, Liberia
July 18, 2021


Situation as of January 31, 2021
On 31 October 2019, the Swiss Federal Criminal Court (FCC) listed the criminal case against Alieu Kosiah for trial in Bellinzona. The Court has decided to only proceed with the preliminary questions and the hearing of the defendant from December 3 to December 11, 2020. The rest of the trial – the hearing of the plaintiffs and the witnesses, and the final pleadings – will take place from February 15 to March 5, 2021. This will be the first time a Liberian national will be tried for war crimes in relation to the Liberian Civil Wars, and the first time the FCC will hold a war crimes trial.
Source: Civitas Maxima 


Latest developments 2020

Two recent background articles based on interviews in Liberia:

Part Two:
Liberia: Kosiah ‘Loved Looting’ And Was Called ‘Physical Cash’
FrontPageAfrica, Monrovia, Liberia – James Harding Giahyue
December 11, 2020

Part One: 
Foya Wants Death Sentence for Alieu Kosiah in War Crimes TrialFrontPageAfrica, Monrovia, Liberia – James Harding Giahyue
December 8, 2020

On His Trial in Switzerland – December 2020:

Liberia: Alieu Kosiah Laments Frustration over Trial, Imprisonment; Insists on His Innocence On Day 4 of War Crimes Trial In Switzerland
FrontPageAfrica, Monrovia, Liberia – Rodney Sieh
December 9, 2020

Liberia: At War Crimes Trial in Switzerland, A Tearful Kosiah Admits to being Founding Member of ULIMO
FrontPageAfrica, Monrovia, Liberia – Rodney Sieh
December 5, 2020

Liberian rebel commander accused of cannibalism goes on trial in Switzerland
Alieu Kosiah is also accused of being involved in killing of 18 civilians, rape and recruiting child soldierThe Guardian
December 3, 2020

Trial of Liberian Alieu Koosiah opens in Switzerland
Alieu Kosiah, a former Liberian warlord, is the first person to be tried in Switzerland for war crimes before a civil court. His trial has been repeatedly postponed. It opens on 3 December in Bellinzona in a tense atmosphere, after six years of pre-trial detention and under the restrictive sanitary conditions of a pandemic. A challenge for the Swiss federal prosecutor’s office. And an important moment for Liberia.
Justice Info, Fondation Hirondelle – Antoine Harari
December 3, 2020

Liberia: Swiss Court Set to Hear Charges Against Accused ULIMO Civil War Criminal Alieu Kosiah
FrontPageAfrica, Monrovia, Liberia – Rodney Sieh
December 1, 2020

Trial of former Liberian rebel leader Alieu Kosiah set to begin in Switzerland
Today News Africa
December 1, 2020
This article contains many interesting links related to Kosiah’s arrest, accusations a.s.o.

Trial of alleged Liberian war criminal Alieu Kosiah to begin in Switzerland
Business Live, South Africa – Emma Farge
December 1, 2020

Historic Liberia war crimes trial to open in SwitzerlandThe trial of Alieu Kosiah, a former Liberian commander accused of rape, pillage, assassinations, and an act of cannibalism opens in Switzerland this week.Reuters – Emma Farge
December 1, 2020

The tral of Alieu Kosiah will begin next week, but will be partially postponed
On November 23, 2020 the Swiss Federal Criminal Court announcedthat the Alieu Kosiah trial will be partially postponed until the beginning of 2021 – tentatively in February.
November 23, 2020
Civitas Maxima

New dates set for Alieu Kosiah Trial in 2020
After being postponed twice due to the Covid-19 virus, the trial of Alieu Kosiah is scheduled to take place in Bellinzona, Switzerland, from November 16 till December 18, 2020.
August 21, 2020
Civitas Maxima

COVID-19: Alieu’s trial postponed
March 16, 2020
Civitas Maxima

Swiss court postpones Liberia war crimes trial over coronavirus
March 18, 2020
FrontPage Africa (Liberia)

Swiss court postpones Liberia war crimes trial over coronavirus 
March 18, 2020
Swiss Justice (Switzerland)

Alieu Kosiah’s War Crimes Trial Postponed
March 20, 2020
Daily Observer (Liberia)

Summary 2014 – 2019 

Swiss court drops massacre charge against former Liberian rebel leader
GNN Liberia, Cholo Brooks, November 26, 2019

Swiss Court Announce Date for Former ULIMO Warlord, Kosiah
FrontPageAfrica, November 4, 2019

Alieu Kosiah Trial Date Set For April 2020 (English version)
La date du procès d’Alieu Kosiah est fixée au mois d’avril 2020 (French version – scroll)
Civitas Maxima, November 1, 2019

Switzerland to Prosecute Ex-ULIMO Commander for War Crimes in Liberia
March 28, 2019
Daily Observer, Monrovia, Liberia 

Switzerland Indicts Ex-ULIMO General for War Crimes in Liberia
March 27, 2019
FrontPageAfrica, Monrovia, Liberia

Former Liberian Rebel Commander to face trial in Switzerland
Press release
Civitas Maxima / GJRP – Global Justice and Research Project 
March 27, 2019 
French – Français – Communiqué de presse
Un ancien commandant rebelle libérien sera renvoyé en jugement en Suisse 
Le 27 mars 2019

International Crimes: Spotlight on Switzerland’s War Crimes Unit
By Julia Crawford, JusticeInfo.net 
February 15, 2019
“Former Liberian rebel leader Alieu Kosiah is one of the two people in custody in a Swiss jail under universal jurisdiction. He has been there for more than four years, suspected of war crimes in his country. The other is former Gambian Interior Minister Ousman Sonko, arrested in early 2017 and under investigation for crimes against humanity. Both cases were brought to the war crimes unit by Swiss NGOs – Civitas Maxima and TRIAL International respectively.”

Paris arrest a new step to justice for Liberian war crimes
By Thierry Cruvellier, JusticeInfo.net
September 11, 2018
“2018 is a good year for the activists who have vowed they will not let the crimes committed in Liberia’s wars of the 1990s go unpunished. After two landmark judgments in the United States, they have now got another arrest in Paris, and trials are also expected in three other European countries.” Read the article for more details.

Former Liberian ULIMO Rebel Commander Arrested in Switzerland for Alleged War Crimes. 
Press Release 
Civitas Maxima / GJRP – Global Justice and Research Project 
January 16, 2015
French – Français – Communiqué de Presse
Ancien Commandant Libérien des Forces ULIMO Arrêté en Suisse pour sa Participation Présumée dans des Crimes de Guerre. 
Le 16 janvier 2015

Liberian ex-rebel leader arrested in Switzerland
November 10, 2014 
JusticeInfo.net, Fondation Hirondelle