Swiss prosecutors on Monday sought a life jail term for former Gambian interior minister Ousman Sonko who has been on trial for crimes against humanity, the Keystone-ATS news agency reported.

Federal prosecutors said Sonko, 55, was responsible for killings, torture, rapes and other sexual crimes, the agency said.

Sonko was one of a group of close associates of Yahya Jammeh, the former Gambian president. Prosecutors said he took part in a systematic wave of crimes against the population.

Sonko has denied any knowledge of the acts he is accused of since his trial started in January. He has also had several attempts to have the trial halted rejected.

The charges against Sonko relate to crimes carried out between 2000 and 2016 under the rule of the country’s former strongman Jammeh. Sonko served as an army officer, then inspector general of police and then a minister.

Sonko told the trial however that he had no “operational powers”.

His claims that the national intelligence agency were behind the abuses have angered civilians who filed complaints against Sonko.

The trial became possible under legislation passed by Switzerland in 2011 that allowed its courts to hear trials for crimes against humanity when mass abuses are committed against civilian populations in other countries.

Sonko was sacked as a minister in September 2016 after 10 years in the post. He was arrested in Switzerland on January 26, 2017 after requesting asylum.