A 28-year-old Gambian, Tijan Sonko who was recently arrested by the Austrian police after they discovered he kept a network of women across Austria is still in custody.

According to media reports, he was in a relationship with 16 different women, including three who were married to him.

His lawyer, Nikolaus Rast revealed in a newspaper interview that Tijan arrived in Austria in 2005. He applied for asylum on the grounds of political prosecution.

According to him, he was shocked when he read in the newspapers that the Gambian immigrant was a bigamist. Rast told Krone newspaper that he is not convinced that his client was having 16 women at the same time.

“He told me that he had three relationships …  One girlfriend is pregnant and there is an ex-wife with whom he has a child. That’s it!”

The lawyer, who is famous for helping asylum seekers, also refuted allegations that Tijan is married in The Gambia. He explained that the 28-year-old left The Gambia when he was only 18 years old.

Rast added that his client never extorted money from the women he dated.

“He explained to me that one of his girlfriends wanted to take a loan from the bank to buy a house with him, but he stopped her.”

When asked about Tijan using fake identities, the lawyer replied: “He told me that all the women know his real name.”

According to him, nicknames are common with asylum seekers.  

Rast described the Gambian immigrant as a fun-loving, cheerful and funny young man. He said Tijan is afraid of being wrongly convicted.

“He just wants to live a normal life.”

Tijan Sonko was arrested after two of his wives realized that they were married to the same man. Police revealed that he extorted more than D2m from the women he met.

His arrest generated widespread international attention. According to a British tabloid, Tijan has set Austria's record for bigamy.