BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s foreign minister abruptly resigned in dissatisfaction over a Cabinet reshuffle that removed him as one of the country's deputy prime ministers.
Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin on Monday confirmed the report of the resignation of Parnpree Bahiddha-Nugara, saying that he respected the decision, and that he has already started looking for a replacement.
Srettha said it was normal that some people would be upset by the reshuffle, adding that he already sent a message to Parnpree, apologizing and thanking him for his work.
“For his work that has been in the good interest of the country, I believe that the new minister will continue these good efforts,” he said, but did not say when the next appointee would take up the post.
On Sunday, Srettha’s government, which took office less than a year ago, announced its first Cabinet shuffle. Shortly afterwards, the media circulated a document said to be a letter of resignation from Parnpree, dated Sunday, indicating his dissatisfaction that he was removed from the position of deputy prime minister and only remained foreign minister.
Ministers in Thailand are allowed to hold multiple Cabinet positions, and it is common for senior ministers to also be appointed as deputy prime ministers.
Srettha said that the intention behind Parnpree being dropped as deputy prime minister was to allow him to concentrate on his role as foreign minister.
In an interview with the public broadcaster Thai PBS on Sunday, Parnpree said the letter was authentic but denied that he was unhappy. He said the prime minister had the authority to make this decision, but said it was “a little unusual” and argued that it would become harder for him to work as foreign minister if he did not also hold the title of deputy prime minister.
Parnpree, who was first appointed in August, engaged in several diplomatic efforts, including a visit to the Middle East to negotiate the release of Thai workers in Israel held hostage by Hamas, and the first humanitarian aid initiative to Thailand's war-torn neighbor, Myanmar, where millions have been displaced by violence that followed the military coup in 2021.
As part of the Cabinet shuffle, Prime Minister Srettha, a former CEO of Thailand’s leading property developer, lost his seat as finance minister. He is replaced by Pichai Chunhavajira, who until recently was a chairman of energy conglomerate Bangchak and chairman of the Stock Exchange of Thailand. Pichai has also been appointed as a deputy prime minister.
FILE - Thailand's Foreign Minister Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara arrives at the government house in Bangkok, Thailand, Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2023. Thailand’s Foreign Minister Parnpree Bahiddha-Nugara, who is also a deputy prime minister, abruptly resigned Monday, April 29, 2024, after the cabinet reshuffle removed him from the latter position. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit, File)
GENEVA (AP) — Switzerland’s top criminal court on Wednesday convicted a former interior minister of Gambia for crimes against humanity over his role in repression committed by the west African country’s security forces under its longtime dictator, a legal advocacy group said.
Ousman Sonko, Gambia’s interior minister from 2006 to 2016 under then-President Yahya Jammeh, was sentenced to 20 years in prison, TRIAL International said on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter.
The trial that began in January was seen by advocacy groups as an opportunity to reach a conviction under “universal jurisdiction,” which allows for the prosecution of serious crimes committed abroad.
The verdict was read out in Swiss federal criminal court in the southern town of Bellinzona on Wednesday.
Sonko applied for asylum in Switzerland in November 2016 and was arrested two months later.
The Swiss attorney general’s office said the indictment against Sonko, filed a year ago, covered alleged crimes during 16 years under Jammeh, whose rule was marked by arbitrary detention, sexual abuse and extrajudicial killings.
Sonko was accused of supporting, participating in and failing to stop attacks against opponents in Gambia, an English-speaking West African country that is surrounded by neighboring Senegal. The crimes included killings, torture, rape and numerous unlawful detentions, prosecutors said.
Madi MK Ceesay, an award-winning journalist who was once arrested under Sonko's orders and who testified in the trial, said the verdict would likely send a strong signal to Jammeh, who remains in exile in Equatorial Guinea.
“The trial demonstrates that no matter what, the long arm of justice can always catch the perpetrator,” Ceesay told The Associated Press.
Reed Brody, an American human rights lawyer who attended the trial, said Sonko's conviction was a pivotal step toward justice for Jammeh’s victims.
“The long arm of the law is catching up with Yahya Jammeh’s accomplices all around the world, and hopefully will soon catch up with Jammeh himself,” he said.
Sonko was convicted of homicide, torture and false imprisonment as crimes against humanity, while rape charges against him were dropped, Brody wrote on X.
Philip Grant, executive director at TRIAL International, which filed the Swiss case against Sonko before his arrest, said he was the highest-level former official ever to be put on trial in Europe under the principle of universal jurisdiction.
Sonko, who joined the Gambian military in 1988, was appointed commander of the State Guard in 2003, a position in which he was responsible for Jammeh’s security, Swiss prosecutors said. He was made inspector general of the Gambian police in 2005.
He was removed as interior minister in September 2016, a few months before the end of Jammeh’s government, and left Gambia to seek asylum in Europe.
Ousman Sonko is not to be confused with leading politician Ousmane Sonko in Senegal, who spells his first name slightly differently.
Jammeh seized control in a 1994 coup. He lost Gambia’s 2016 presidential election but refused to concede defeat to Adama Barrow, and ultimately fled amid threats of a regional military intervention to force him from power.
“The verdict against Ousman Sonko is a milestone in the fight against impunity and a historic success for universal jurisdiction in Switzerland and Europe,” Amnesty Switzerland wrote on X. “Even former ministers can be prosecuted! Victims and their families finally see justice.”
John reported from Serrekunda, Gambia.
Philip Grant, Executive Director of TRIAL International talks to the media after the conviction of former interior minister of Gambia Ousman Sonko, in front of the Federal Criminal Court of Switzerland, in Bellinzona, Wednesday, May 15, 2024. Switzerland’s top criminal court has convicted Sonko for crimes against humanity over the repression by the west African country’s security forces against opponents of its longtime dictator, a legal advocacy group said Wednesday. Grant, executive director at TRIAL International, which filed the Swiss case against Sonko before his arrest, said he was the highest-level former official ever to be put on trial in Europe under the principle of universal jurisdiction. (Maria Linda Clericetti/Keystone via AP)
Olimatou Sonko, daughter of Gambia's former Interior Minister Ousman Sonko, talks to the media after the conviction of her father, in front of the Federal Criminal Court of Switzerland in Bellinzona, Wednesday, May 15, 2024. Switzerland’s top criminal court has convicted Ousman Sonko for crimes against humanity over the repression by the west African country’s security forces against opponents of its longtime dictator, a legal advocacy group said Wednesday. (Maria Linda Clericetti/Keystone via AP)
FILE - Gambia's defeated leader Yahya Jammeh waves to supporters as he departs from Banjul airport on Jan. 21, 2017, as he has decided to relinquish power. Switzerland’s top criminal court has convicted Ousman Sonko, a former interior minister of Gambia, for crimes against humanity during repression by the west African country’s security forces against opponents under then-President Yahya Jammeh. The Swiss attorney general’s office said the indictment against Sonko, filed a year ago, covered alleged crimes during 16 years under Jammeh, whose rule was marked by arbitrary detention, sexual abuse and extrajudicial killings. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
