According to information provided by the Swiss television station RTS,  the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) has requested international legal assistance from the Gambia in a case of rosewood looting involving a Swiss businessman, Nicolae Bogdan Buzaianu, who had business ties with former Gambian president Yahya Jammeh.

In June 2019, TRIAL International filed a criminal denunciation against this suspect with the OAG... for pillage, a war crime under Swiss law... The Westwood company...was involved in the illegal exploitation and the export of the precious and protected rosewood in Casamance from 2014 to 2017. ...Large areas of the region were in conflict and under the control of armed separatist groups...illegal exploitation of natural resources in conflict areas can...be considered as an act of pillage, ...a war crime under international and Swiss law.

This criminal investigation is the third one opened by the OAG following investigations and cases filed by TRIAL International against economic actors suspected of pillage. The two other criminal cases concern the illegal trade of minerals from Eastern Congo in the DRC and the plundering of Libyan fuel. For TRIAL International, these cases...can...put an end to the widespread impunity of economic actors who destroy the environment and illegally exploit natural resources, thereby fueling the causes of conflicts.