On Monday the prosecution continued to cross examine Issay Sesay seeking to establish links between the RUF and Mr. Taylor. The Prosecution investigated a variety of issues, including training at Camp Naama, and Mr. Sankoh’s access to a satellite phone in 1991, whilst seeking to establish links between the RUF and Charles Taylor. Mr Koumjian continued the cross examination by reading at length from other witness testimonies. These testimonies, including Mr. Kallon, explained how the RUF recruited and trained at camp Naama in Liberia. The prosecution then alleged that such recruitment and training could not have occurred without Mr. Taylor’s involvement. Prosecution counsel told Mr Sesay that “it was obvious to you that the RUF was created and supported by Charles Taylor, but you just don’t want to say that because you are here to protect Charles Taylor.”
“No. That is not true” Mr Sesay said, “it was Mr. Sankoh who created the RUF. It was Mr. Sankoh who trained the RUF, and he used to tell us that he was supported by his brother Pa Kallon and Pa Kallon told us the same thing at Pendembu.” The unsatisfied Mr. Koumjian continued, “Mr. Sesay, you are clever, it’s clear to you that none of this could have been done without the consent of Charles Taylor.”
The witness told the court that “Well, if you assess it that way, but I have to believe what Mr. Sankoh told me…but Mr. Sankoh did not tell me that he had links with Mr. Taylor…according to him, he was Mr. Taylor’s friend and he was responsible for his own revolution.” The prosecution put it to the witness that Charles Taylor not only supported the RUF but also helped create the rebel group. Mr. Koumjian told Mr. Sesay that he knew “that the RUF was created with the acquiescence and support of Charles Taylor.” Mr Sesay responded by saying that “Well, I cannot explain because I was not there when Mr. Sankoh and Mr. Taylor discussed.”
When asked to tell the court what Mr. Sankoh told him about how he met Mr. Taylor, Mr. Sesay said, “According to Mr. Sankoh, he said he met Mr. Taylor in Libya and later in Liberia because Mr. Sankoh and his men were also training in Libya.” The witness was also asked about the satellite phone used by Mr. Sankoh to issue the 1991 “the 90 day ultimatum” to the then President Momoh of Sierra Leone “was made on Charles Taylor’s satellite phone”. Mr. Sesay said, “I don’t know that.”
On Tuesday the prosecution focused their attention on the relationship between Charles Taylor and the RUF’s Foday Sankoh and sought to establish that a Mr. Sankoh and Mr. Taylor were well acquainted before the 1991 invasion of Sierra Leone. Following on from Mr. Seasy’s testimony on Monday, which explained how Mr. Taylor and Mr. Sankoh became friends in the late 1980s whilst training in Libya, the prosecution suggested that it was this friendship which formed the basis of the mutual assistance that each gave during their respective invasions of Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Prosecution counsel Mr. Koumjian told Mr. Sesay that Mr. Taylor had during a BBC interview stated that “it is known by everyone that I have been friendly with Foday Sankoh for many years before the revolution.” Mr. Koumjian then asked “Was it known by all of you at Naama that Foday Sankoh was friendly with Charles Taylor or Charles Taylor was friendly with Foday Sankoh many years before the revolution?” Mr Sesay responded by telling the Special Court that “ he cannot say what was happening before the revolution, but Mr. Sankoh told us at Naama that he was friends with Mr. Taylor.” Prosecutors then pointed out that when the RUF invaded Sierra Leone in March 1991, they did so with the assistance of fighters belonging to Mr. Taylor’s NPFL.
Mr. Sesay admitted that there were indeed NPFL fighters among the invading forces in Sierra Leone in 1991 but told the court that these fighters were withdrawn from Sierra Leone in 1992. Mr. Sesay then told the court that Mr. Taylor did not have any contact with the RUF until the 1999 peace talks. Mr. Sesay was then read a testimony from a previous witness who had told the court that in 1995 Mr. Taylor had invited an RUF delegation to his NPFL headquarters at Gbangha. Prosecution counsel asked Mr. Sesay, “Were you aware that Charles Taylor invited three members of the external delegation to spend three weeks with him in Gbangha, and he took them to Ghana?” “No.” Mr. Sesay responded, “I did not know about that because in August 1995, I was not in Sierra Leone.”
On Wednesday the prosecution’s cross examination of Issa Sesay began by focusing on allegations that Charles Taylor promoted Sam Bockarie to the rank of Two Star General in late 1998 whilst RUF leader Foday Sankoh was in prison in Sierra Leone. Prosecution counsel Mr. Koumjian showed Mr. Sesay a number of photos of Mr. Bockarie, Moses Blah, and Benjamin Yeaten. The prosecution suggested that the men’s uniform indicated that they all held the same rank. After showing Mr. Sesay the photograph, Mr Koumjian asked, “the red berets are identical that Sam Bockarie, Benjamin Yeaten, and Moses Blah are wearing, correct?”
“Yes” replied Mr. Sesay, “I see them, but we too had red berets.”
Mr. Koumjian noted that “it’s the same uniform, the same type of khaki uniform that Sam Bockarie has with the Liberians.” However, Mr. Sesay told the Special Court of Sierra Leone that “this is a US camouflage that the Nigerians used to wear, we used to capture them.”
“When we joined the AFRC, Gborie used to supply those red berets to the RUF. Even when we fought ECOMOG, we used to capture these camouflage, we captured lots of red berets.” Mr. Koumjian continued, asking “It’s correct, isn’t it, that the Sierra Leone Army would not wear stars on the beret?” Mr Sesay said, “Yes, the Sierra Leone Army, they put their ranks on their uniform.” Mr. Koumjian suggested that this was “just further evidence that the promotion of Sam Bockarie was done by Mr. Taylor, not Johnny Paul Koroma.”
However, Mr. Sesay reiterated that “Sam Bockarie was promoted by Johnny Paul. They can promote you and you’ll remove the star from the uniform and put it on your beret. That’s what Sam Bockarie did.” Mr. Koumjian also asked Mr. Sesay several questions relating to the diamonds that the witness claimed he lost on transit to Burkina Faso. Mr. Sesay had previously told the court that after losing, and searching for the diamonds, he eventually confirmed their loss by issuing a radio message. Mr. Taylor denied that he ever heard this report. As such Mr. Koumjian was skeptical that Mr. Sesay ever issued a radio message confirming he had lost the diamonds.
Mr. Sesay responded by telling the court “I did not make this up. This was well known in Buedu. That is not a made up story.” Mr. Koumjian also questioned Mr Sesay’s inability to value the lost diamonds, telling the witness that “the reason why you don’t know the value of diamonds is because you’ll take the diamonds to Mr. Taylor and he’ll give you whatever money he wanted together with arms and ammunition.” “No.” Mr. Sesay replied, “That’s not true. I never took diamonds to Mr. Taylor and he never gave me arms and ammunition”.
On Thursday the prosecution cross-examined Issa Sesay on the 1999 attack on Sierra Leone’s capital Freetown. The witness distanced himself, and the RUF, from this operation which resulted in one of the horrendous periods of brutality of the country’s conflict torn decade. Mr. Sesay denied the prosecutor’s allegations that the 1999 attack was a joint operation of the AFRC and RUF. “It was an AFRC operation, it was an independent operation that they carried out.” Mr. Sesay explained that the attack was in response to President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah’s decision to execute members of the Sierra Leone Army who had been found guilty for their involvement in the coup. “That is why they attacked Freetown, they said their colleagues had been killed.”
Mr. Sesay also told the court that the AFRC forces that attacked the capital left from Koinadugu. At this time the AFRC was under the command of SAJ Musa. But when Musa died before the fall of Freetown, Alex Brima aka Gullit took over. Shortly after this, Mr Sesay recalled:
“According to my radio operator, it was Gullit’s name that was mentioned to Sam Bockarie’s operator. He said Gullit told Sam Bockarie that SAJ Musa was dead. Then Sam Bockarie told Gullit that they should wait for reinforcement to come so that they will attack Freetown.” However, Mr. Sesay told the court that Gullit did not wait for reinforcements before advancing on Freetown.
“That is what my operator told me…based on the instruction he gave Gullit to wait to get reinforcement for us to attack Freetown, but Gullit did not wait, he did not go ahead with what he was told.”
Mr Sesay explained that the RUF did not organise the attack on Freetown because of the poor relationship between the AFRC’s Musa and Sam Bockarie. However, after Musa died “Bockarie was ready to work with Guilt” because “Guilt was his friend”. The witness was then played BBC interview of Colonel FAT Sesay. In the recording the Colonel told the interviewer that “we have again overthrown the SLPP…the combined forces of the AFRC and the RUF forces.” Mr. Sesay explained that this was a lie because “the RUF were in Makeni” at the time of the attack and again reiterated to the court that he “was neither part of the planning nor the execution of the attack on Freetown”.
