Ms. Hollis read statements from Yanks Smythe, a Gambian member of the NPFL and later Liberian ambassador to Libya and Tunisia and John T. Richardson, a former National Security adviser to Mr. Taylor. Mr. Smythe is quoted saying that the SBUs were underaged but part of the NPFL rank. Similarly extracts of Mr. Richardson 1994 news interview were read to the court. Mr. Richardson said the NPFL used children to fight for their own protection. DCT-008 insisted that he was not aware of that.

Tuesday saw the conclusion of DCT-008′s cross-examination and the prosecution disputing the nature of disarmament, Mr. Taylor’s use of militias and the nature of the relationship between Sam Bockarie and Benjamin Yeaten. Prosecutors alleged that the NPFL did not give in all their weapons during the disarmament and that these weapons were then given to the RUF rebels to use in Sierra Leone. This version of events was put to the witness. But DCT-008 was adamant that the NPFL turned in all their weapons to ECOMOG peacekeepers.

“I know that the NPFL disarmed. Even myself, I disarmed to ECOMOG…To my knowledge, the NPFL turned over every weapon it was not a joke, it was real”. Ms. Hollis then referenced a news article that quoted former Defense Minister Daniel Chea which described the disarmament process as a fiasco. The witness replied saying, I believe that the NPFL fully disarmed to the peacekeepers so if he went on to say it was a fiasco, that was his opinion…But what I know is that the disarmament went on very well, that is why we had elections.”

The prosecution also suggested that Mr. Taylor relied on private militias because he did not trust the AFL. However, DCT-008 told the court that Mr. Taylor relied on the national security of the Republic of Liberia, and Mr. Taylor to my knowledge never controlled any militia from the Executive Mansion. Ms. Hollis again quoted Mr. Chea, who in the same interview said, Mr. Taylor had his own suspicions of the army, and he transferred most of the duties of the army to his own militias. I thought that was a mistake. Ms. Hollis then asked who will be in a better position to know about Charles Taylor’s militia, you or Mr. Chea? The witness replied “to my knowledge, the president did not control militia group or militia from the Executive Mansion”.”

The witness also continued to insist that Mr. Taylor did not have any relationship with the RUF, but Mr. Yeaten was secretly involved with the RUF. As such DCT-008 denied suggestions that Jungle, Samson, Mr. Yeaten and others were members of the SSS carrying out security duties in relation to the rebels in Sierra Leone…at the instance of Charles Taylor stating that they did this at the instance of Benjamin Yeaten and Mr. Taylor did not know about this.

The witness spoke extensively about radio communications that took place between Mr.Yeaten’s radio communications set in Liberia and those of RUF radio stations in Sierra Leone. When Ms. Hollis asked him whether there were no loyal radio operators who could have monitored these communications and made them known to Mr. Taylor, the witness said that such a thing never happened. And your story is that Benjamin Yeaten was able to do this without Mr. Taylor or anybody loyal to him knowing about it? Ms. Hollis questioned the witness. “I said this happened without Mr. Taylor’s knowledge”  the witness responded.

During the morning session, the judges also issued their oral decision on the pending defence motion. Justice Julia Sebutinde ordered that the Chamber dismiss Part A of the defence application relating to the statement made by DCT-097 to Global Witness, and grants Part B of the motion regarding the payments that were made to the witness by prosecutors. The prosecution was thus ordered to disclose to the defence:

a. All payments/benefits to DCT-097.

b. All documents relating to the payments.

c. Provide explanation for such payments.

On Wednesday DCT-008 concluded his evidence, and potentially the defence’s evidence as a whole. The day’s testimony was spent clarifying issues that had arisen during the witness’ cross examination. The witness clarified matters in relation to the use of various floors of the Executive Mansion in Liberia during Mr. Taylor’s presidency and the use of the word principal in radio communications. The witness explain what he knew of the 8^th floor, the floor which the prosecution had alleged Mr Taylor and other had used to co-ordinate with the RUF. DCT- 008 said “on the 8th floor, that was where the presidents, starting from Tolbert to Doe, they had their residence there but during the war, we were told that the place was ransacked and all the things that were there were looted by ECOMOG”.

The witness told the Special Court of Sierra Leone that he never heard that president Taylor resided on the 8th floor. The witness continued, explaining, that the 7th floor housed radio equipment, whilst the 6th floor was used as the presidential kitchen. The witness also said that he had never heard of the SSS using the 5th floor for radio communication.

The witness addressed the use of principal and master by radio operators, explaining that if the term principal is used, anybody who had been listening on the Government of Liberia side will know that there is an operator on the Liberian side and the Sierra Leone side as Liberian operators used the term master. As the witness concluded his testimony, Terry Munyard, for the Defence, asked the court for a status conference on Monday as the team hoped to receive instruction from Mr. Taylor before proceeding any further with the trial. Mr. Munyard concluded by saying at the moment, we are not anticipating calling any further live evidence, should that change, we will let the parties know.”

DCT-008 was then asked to explain what the Liberian government’s reaction was to this incident and the witness explained that “what I heard from the government through the defence minister was that Sam Bockarie, after he had left Liberia, attempted to come to Liberia with a fighting force, which the Government of Liberia wanted to stop and when he opened fire on the government security, they killed him”. His testimony also addressed Daniel Tamba’s death. The Prosecution have alleged that Mr. Tamba, aka Jungle, was Mr. Taylor’s liaison with the RUF in Sierra Leone and was executed on Mr Talyor’s command when he returned to Liberia. However, other defence witnesses have told the court that Jungle was Benjamin Yeaten’s contact in the RUF and this was unknown to Taylor. DCT-008 explained to the court that Jungle returned to Liberia after the disarmament in Sierra Leone and became part of Mr. Taylor’s security forces but died from a friendly fire, from a friendly gun. “He was engaging the enemy forces; he was hit by a BZT at the back. While the BZT was giving them cover, the BZT mistakenly hit him in the back” he added. The witness also recalled Yeaten’s reaction to Jungle’s death telling the court that Yeaten came to Monrovia constantly crying that he had lost Jungle. He was very sad.

On Tuesday DCT-008 testified that Joseph Zig Zag Marzah never had physical access to Mr. Taylor. Mr. Marzah had told the court in 2008 that he had personally be given orders by Mr. Taylor to transport arms and ammunition in exchange for rough diamonds, execute individuals in Liberia and, as members of the same secret society, that he had also consumed the remains of these individuals with Mr. Taylor. Mr. Taylor had called Mr. Marzah’s evidence lies.
Mr. Morris Anyah asked the witness “did the president of Liberia have one on one interaction, such as meals, with someone like Zig Zag Marzah?” The witness answered no. Justice Julia Sebutinde then asked the witness whether he was actually there. The witness responded “Your honor, I said no because looking at the personnel in this situation, because even the special assistant to Benjamin Yeaten, Samson Wai, did not have physical proximity to the president and Marzah was just like a servant to Benjamin Yeaten”. The further stated that during the time he was assigned to the Executive Mansion, he never had the privilege to see the president because he was very far from them. “We will sometimes see his convoy from our office but we never went very close to him”.”
DCT-008 was also asked to explain the nature and extent of communications between Mr. Yeaten’s residence and RUF headquarters in Buedu. The witness told the court that communications only started in the late 1990s, and evidence that such contact existed in the mid 1990s is false. He explained that “to my knowledge, in 94, 95 up to 97, there was no communication between the Government of Liberia or the NPFL at the time and the RUF”. Justice Richard Lussick, asked how the witness knew? He said that he was told by previous operators that in 1991-92, there was communication between the NPFL and the RUF, but after that, there was no link between the NPFL and the RUF. However, when pressed by the Judge to recall the specific names of these operators, the witness said “”sorry, I cannot remember their names but I can remember this information”.”The witness also addressed previous testimony that Mr. Bockarie took direct orders from Mr. Yeaten, explaining that it is not to my knowledge that Yeaten instructed Sam Bockarie on military operations.”

He also dismissed suggestions that Mr. Yeaten had personally congratulated Mr. Bockarie after the 1999 capture of Freetown. “First of all, please be informed that there was no occasion that Benjamin Yeaten spoke on the radio with anybody. Sam Bockarie and Benjamin Yeaten never spoke to each other on the radio as far as I am concerned” the witness said.

The examination-in-chief of DCT-008 continued on Wednesday and directly addressed claims made by radio operators called by the prosecution. These witnesses told the court that RUF commanders sent regular radio messages to Mr. Taylor and received regular instructions from Mr. Taylor and Mr. Yeaten through a radio operator known as Sun Light. In July 2008, a prosecution witness and former RUF radio operator, TFI-567, had told the court that after the RUF had captured Kono in December 1998, RUF headquarters in Buedu communicated with Liberian authorities through Sun Light, who was in charge of the Base One radio set in Liberia. However, DCT-008 questioned this account telling the court, “It did not happen so. I have my doubts because Sun Light never visited Sierra Leone to know what was happening there. Sun Light did not give any report on RUF operations, Sun Light did not have any contacts with the RUF organization. He was only communicating with Sam Bockarie on behalf of Benjamin Yeaten”.”
DCT-008 also addressed claims by TFI-567 that Mr. Yeaten had taken the operator to see Mr. Taylor at the Executive Mansion around 10:00PM one night, while in Liberia. The witness told the court that he was not aware of this meeting or Charles Taylor receiving visitors at the Executive Mansion late in the night. Justice Richard Lussick then enquired, “Yesterday, you said that in all your time at the Executive Mansion, you never even got to see the president. So how would you know if he received visitors?” The witness replied, this is why I said that it is not to my knowledge that the president received visitors late at night. The witness also disputed evidence from TFI-585, who testified in 2008 that when rebel forces invaded Freetown in 1999, Mr. Yeaten spoke to RUF commander Mr. Bockarie. He told the court that he was not aware of that. “For the time that I was at 50′s house, 50 never spoke to Sam Bockarie on the radio, infact, 50 never spoke to anybody on the radio, whether for family or government issues. He also added that he was not aware of Mr. Yeaten travelling to Buedu.

DCT-008 also commented on the testimony of RUF signal commander, Mohamed Beretay Kabbah, who testified in 2008 that the radio operator Sun Light had kept the RUF informed on ECOMOG bombers – Iron Birds – targeting RUF positions in Sierra Leone, as they left Roberts International Airport. The witness told the court, “first of all, I do not know the code 448 to be reference to an ECOMOG jet. And when Base One was communicating with Buedu, there was no communication regarding ECOMOG jet”.“He recalled that they had their own code that referenced an enemy plane which was 15-2. During the NPFL days, when ECOMOG was carrying out air raids against the NPFL, the NPFL radio communication used Iron Bird but this was not expedient as it could reveal what we were talking about and when we went into government, Iron Bird was cancelled and we used the code 15-2.”
The witness continued by explaining that Base One was situated in Kongor town in Monrovia. The RIA where ECOMOG was located is far away from Base One. Base One had no knowledge of ECOMOG jets. “Yes, we could hear a plane when moving but we had no knowledge of where it was going, so the issue of communication regarding the movement of ECOMOG jets never occurred. However, the witness did concede that it was possible for somebody at RIA to get in touch with Base One either by radio or telephone but assured the court that this did not occur.
On Thursday the Defence concluded their examination in chief of DCT-008. The conclusion of this direct testimony occurred mainly under private session to protect other witness’ identities. After the examination was concluded, the prosecutors applied for disclosure order against the defence. Lead prosecutor Brenda Hollis told the judges, “in general, what we have is a witness whose testimony is totally different from what he had told the defense, we ask that you order the defense to disclose the full statements immediately”. Morris Anyah, for the Defence, opposed the application arguing that the prosecution has no automatic rights to the defence witness statements and that the prosecution had not established that the non-disclosure of the witness statement would cause irreparable damage and thus as the test was not satisfied there would be no need for the order to be granted. “The prosecution is not entitled to disclosure, they have not met the necessary legal steps and the witness’ statements should not be disclosed”.”
The Judges retired to deliberate and ruled against the prosecution after 30 minutes of deliberation application. Presiding Judge, Justice Julia Sebutinde stated that “We agree with the defence that the prosecution has not satisfied the requirement that the statements of the witness be disclosed…we dismiss the application”. After this ruling the prosecution asked for an early adjournment to prepare the cross-examination of DCT-008. This was granted.

On Friday, the defence team indicated to all parties that DCT-008 is likely to be the defence’s final witness. This news was sent, via email, to all parties including the judges from lead defence counsel Courtenay Griffiths. The email was read in court by the presiding judge, Justice Julia Sebutinde. The defence also clarified that this did not mean that they were retracting the pending motion relating to allegations of the prosecution paying potential defence witness DCT-097 US$30,000. As such the defence still wish to establish that the prosecutors have been paying witnesses to testify against Mr. Taylor. The defence claim that DCT-097 was contacted by the prosecution and initially given large sums of money to testify against Mr. Taylor but the payments ceased when the witness did not tell them what they wished to hear.

The cross examination of DCT-008 commenced after this discussion. Lead Prosecutor Brenda Hollis, put it to the witness that he had a close relationship with Mr. Taylor and had discussed security issues with the former President.
The witness denied that this was the case, telling the court I was never close to Charles Taylor I never sat with Mr. Taylor for any discussions on security matters the only time I spoke with him was in 2003 when some of our men went missing in the Lofa forest. In explaining this exception, DCT-008 told the court that I met with the president because I put in place a mechanism how to locate the men and Benjamin Yeaten wanted me to train the commanders on how to use the Thuraya satellite phone. That was the opportunity I had to meet the president.”

Mr Sesay told the court that he did not write this letter to Mr. Taylor. Mr. Koumjian for the prosecution asked the witness “it is obvious that if this was in the archive of Charles Taylor, then it is written by Charles Taylor’s men as the demands of the RUF. This is a letter that was written on your behalf by Charles Taylor’s people. He was using you as a puppet, correct?”

Mr. Sesay replied “Nobody was using me. ECOWAS only used me to disarm the RUF, but the Liberian government did not use me.” Mr. Koumjian put it to Mr. Sesay that “Charles Taylor said to you that if he is made chairman of ECOWAS he will help you”, which Mr. Sesay denied.

The prosecution then enquired why Mr. Sesay had chosen to release the peacekeepers in Liberia, rather than Sierra Leone, where the peacekeeping mission was based.

Mr Sesay said, “I got the contact from Monrovia. If I had got the contact in Sierra Leone, I would have released them in Sierra Leone. Mr. Taylor told me to take them to Liberia, that’s why I took them to Foya and the helicopter took them to Monrovia,

The prosecution also suggested that Mr. Sesay had contradicted himself by telling the court that he had only gone to Monrovia once in May 2000, quoting passages from Mr. Sesay’s own trial in which he had told the Special court he had visited Liberia twice during this period.

Mr. Sesay had originally said “I was in the last helicopter that left for Monrovia the following morning, Tua came and took me to Charles Taylor and Charles Taylor said, ‘You have done well by releasing these people because Foday Sankoh was not listening.”

Mr. Sesay responded to the prosecution by suggesting that he had got confused, “well, I recall that when I went with the UN,I stopped in Foya if I did say that I went to Monrovia, now I recall that I stopped at Foya.”

The prosecution also alerted the court to discrepancy between Sesay’s evidence and the evidence given by Mr. Taylor’s.

Mr. Taylor had told the court during his testimony that he never suggested that Mr. Bockarie be made to re-join the RUF. In contrast Mr. Sesay told the court, earlier this month that Mr. Taylor suggested as much to him when Mr. Sesay became interim leader of the RUF.

Mr. Sesay did not appear in Court on Tuesday because of scheduled dentist appointment. Instead the defence called a new, and protected, witness known only as DCT-008.

The witness informed the court that he had worked as a radio operator in the NPFL and in Mr. Taylor’s mansion as part of the Special Security Services, and testified about the communications that took place between Benjamin Yeaten and Sam Bockarie.

The witness told the court that communications existed between radio operators at the Executive Mansion and the RUF in Sierra Leone. However, these communications were secret and even “the Liberian government did not know about it, not even the president”.

The witness later discussed this matter with Sam Bockarie and asked whether “Charles Taylor was aware of communications with Yeaten.” The witness told the court that Mr. Bockarie said “No.”

The witness also told the court that, “Charles Taylor did not know because Benjamin Yeaten told Sunlight (a radio operator) that what I have told you should be kept to yourself and you must not share it with any other government radio operator because this relationship between Sam Bockarie and myself, the president does not know about it and you should keep it to yourself.”

Mr. Sesay returned to the court on Wednesday and told the court that the RUF did not fight for Mr. Taylor in Guinea or Liberia. Mr. Koumjian, for the prosecution, put it to Mr. Sesay that ““Benjamin Yeaten provided the RUF with ammunition to launch these attacks in Guinea and Lofa in Liberia,” Mr. Sesay replied saying ““No, Benjamin Yeaten did not give me ammunition and I did not send the RUF to fight in Guinea and Liberia.”

Mr. Koumjian continued saying “you as interim leader of the RUF were battling the enemies of Charles Taylor in both Liberia and Guinea,”

The witness responded, telling the court “I did not fight the enemies of Charles Taylor.”

It was then put to Mr. Sesay, “Did Charles Taylor ask you to assist him the same way he had asked Mr. Sankoh?”

Mr Sesay told the court, “No, No. He did not ask me, he could have asked Mr. Sankoh but he did not ask me. The RUF who went there did so on their own accord.” Mr. Koumjian asked whether this was an admission that RUF fighters did cross into Liberia, and the witness told the court, “What I mean, when I asked them (the RUF) to disarm, the Vanguards who refused, crossed over to Liberia. Even Superman went over to Liberia, but to say that I organized men to go over to Liberia, no.”

Mr. Sesay also told the court that “Mr. Taylor did not give me any operation to attack Guinea…there were cross-border attacks which the Guineans launched and the RUF was repelling them…The Guineans were launching long range missiles which were landing in RUF controlled territories.” Thursday saw the conclusion of Mr. Sesay’s cross examination in which the witness attempted to dismiss suggestions that he has an alterior motive for testifying for Mr. Taylor and that Mr. Taylor had sent men to kill him during the disarmament process.

Mr. Koumjian asked “Charles Taylor was unhappy with your decision to cooperate with the United Nations and at some point he sent men to kill you, did you know that?” Mr. Sesay replied, saying “No, I did not know that, i did not hear that and i don’t believe that Charles Taylor wanted to kill me because Charles Taylor was one of those encouraging me to disarm.” Mr. Koumjian then read from evidence given by an ex-NPFL fighter who had told the court that Mr. Taylor had ordered him to execute Mr. Sesay. The evidence reads “I crossed over to Pendembu in the Kailahun District to wait for Issa Sesay to execute him under the directive of my leader Charles Taylor. Later Taylor called me and said he had already sent for Issa to go and receive ammos in Buedu and for him to come and pass through me to Buedu and then I will follow him to get him, but Issa never returned. I spent almost two weeks in Kailahun and later he told me that, “the man has gone. He will no longer receive supplies from me.” Mr. Sesay told the court that this was a lie.

Mr. Koumjian also put it to Mr. Sesay that he “have the hope that if Charles Taylor is released, he’ll help you get political release from prison. If Charles Taylor is released, he’ll help you get out of jail, correct?” “No my Lord,” replied Mr. Sesay, “Mr. Taylor is not a Sierra Leonean and so he has no influence in Sierra Leone. It is the people of Sierra Leone who will appeal to the Government of Sierra Leone for my release or the international community who know what I did for peace in Sierra Leone.”

“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”.

The Presiding Judge, Julia Sebutinde, then asked, “the suggestion as to where this gift had come from, whose suggestion was that?”

Ms Farrow replied, “Only hers. I didn’t know anything about it.”

Mr Koumjian later asked Ms Farrow directly, “did you tell Naomi Campbell that the diamond or diamonds came from Charles Taylor?”

“Absolutely not” responded Ms Farrow and subsequently confirmed again that the diamond had come from Charles Taylor.

Under cross examination Ms. Farrow admitted that she had difficulty recollecting the events of the evening and that her testimony not only contradicted Ms Campbell’s but also Ms. White (an individual Ms Farrow told the court that she did not remember).

Mr Anyah summarised the position saying ‘So we have your account of a diamond, a large diamond; Naomi’s Campbell’s account of two or three small dirty looking stones; Carole White’s account of six small greyish pebbles.’

Mr Anyah then asked Ms Farrow, “Do you stand by your account that it was a ‘huge diamond?’

Ms Farrow replied “Yes, but, sir, I didn’t see the diamond or diamonds. I can only tell you what Naomi Campbell said.” but latter admitted that “a lot of events have taken place” since that event.
Ms. White testified after the conclusion of Ms Farrow’s evidence. Ms White told the court that Mr. Taylor and Ms. Campbell “were being charming to each other…mildly flirting…they were just being affable.”

“Naomi I think was flirting with him [Mr. Taylor] and he was flirting back…they were enjoying each other’s company,” she said.
Ms. White told the court that Ms Campbell was expecting to receiving diamonds that night having been told as much by Mr. Taylor.
“Naomi was very excited and said,’Oh he is going to give me some diamonds’,” Ms. White said.

Ms. White explained how Ms Campbell and Mr Taylor had discussed how two men would enter the guesthouse and give Ms. Campbell the diamonds. As such, Ms White told the court that she and Ms Campbell had stayed up that night waiting for the delivery.
Ms White told the court that she had been the first to hear the men arrive and woke up Ms Campbell to receive the gift.

“I heard some clinking noises on my window…I opened the window and there were two guys standing on the ground…’we, [the two men] have something for Ms. Campbell’…and I told them to wait. I went to Ms. Campbell’s room and told her that the men were here,” she explained.
Ms White explained that Ms Campbell was given a “scruffy piece of paper” containing five to six diamonds, which “were quite disappointing because they were not shiny”

Mr Griffiths lead the cross-examination, and suggested that Ms White had “a very powerful motive for lying about Ms. Campbell” because “you don’t come to this court with clean hands…your motive for lying…is to provide yourself with ammunition for use against her in the lawsuit.”
Ms. White told the court that her civil matter had nothing to do with events in this court.
The Defence’s cross-examination of Ms White continued on Tuesday and Mr Griffiths continued to question the authenticity of Ms White’s account of how Mr Taylor allegedly sent men to deliver Ms Campbell diamonds in the middle of the night. However, Ms White told the court that:

“I have known this story since 1997 and it’s, you know, quite an amazing story…however, when I was told by my lawyer that Charles Taylor had been in The Hague in a war crimes trial, I realized it was very serious and the blood diamond issue had a big bearing on the case and it was my duty to tell my story, it happened 13 years ago, I haven’t lied and it is a true story.”

Mr Griffiths suggested to Ms White that, “this flirtation between Mr. Taylor and Naomi Campbell is a figment of your imagination. You’ve made that up.” But Ms. White denied having done so.
Mr Griffiths then from Ms. White’s statement given to prosecutors prior to her appearance in court, and suggested that Ms White “embellished this account with a number of blatant lies”. Ms White again denied Mr. Griffiths’ allegation.

Mr. Griffiths also questioned Ms. White on the portion of her statement that noted that she (Ms White) had “heard Mr. Taylor tell Ms. Campbell that he was going to send her diamonds.”
Under cross examination Ms White conceded that she had not heard Mr. Taylor speak but “when Naomi Campbell leaned back to tell me that Mr. Taylor was going to send her diamonds…Mr. Taylor was definitely acquiescing.”
“Mr. Taylor nodded that he was going to send her diamonds. I didn’t hear the words. I don’t recall…he was nodding in agreement.”

Mr. Griffiths also took issue with Ms. White’s account of how the two men allegedly sent by Mr Taylor alerted Ms White of their presence. Ms White had informed the court that the two men threw pebbles at her window, and it was this noise that caused her to inform Ms Campbell.
Mr Griffith enquired “How did the men know which window to throw pebbles at?” Ms. White told the court that she did not know and that “maybe it was a lucky guess”.
When the men arrived, Mr Griffith enquired whether the men did or “did not say they were from Liberia or from the Liberian President.”

Ms White told the court that the gentlemen said “that they had a gift for Naomi Campbell”

Unsatisfied with the answer Mr Griffith searched for clarification as to whether they said “they were bearing a gift from the Liberian President.” Ms White confirmed that they did not.

On Wednesday Issa Sesay returned to the witness box after the conclusion of the celebrity testimony of Ms Campbell, White and Farrow. Mr Sesay’s testimony focused on events in May 2000 when the RUF took hundreds of UN peacekeepers hostage and seized their arms, ammunition and equipment.
The prosecution alleged that the materials seized from the peacekeepers were taken to Liberia by Mr. Sesay and used by Mr. Taylor. Mr. Sesay denied this account, telling the court that items taken from the UN were subsequently returned to them Sierra Leone.

Mr Sesay told the court, “That did not happen…I did not send any artillery pieces to Mr. Taylor in Liberia.”
“I did not give any instruction to take any UNAMSIL [United Nations Missions in Sierra Leone] weapon to Mr. Taylor in Liberia. The weapons that were captured from them were handed back to the UN before disarmament,” he added.
Mr. Sesay also challenged some of the specific details provided by the prosecution witness, telling the court that the witness “is lying because I do not recall that mortars were captured from the peacekeepers. It was BZTs that we captured, and I did not send them to Monrovia.”

Mr. Sesay also denied that he had handed the weapons to Benjamin Yeaten, Director of Liberia’s Special Security Services (SSS). Mr. Sesay told the court that “during this time when I was in contact with Benjamin Yeaten, the war was not continuing in Sierra Leone, and I did not have any arms dealings with Benjamin Yeaten”.
Mr Sesay also added that he “did not have anybody that was bringing arms and ammunition for me from Benjamin Yeaten” and that he “did not talk to Benjamin Yeaten on satellite phone…or send a radio message to Benjamin Yeaten after the capture of the UN peacekeepers.”
On Thursday the defence team concluded their three week examination in chief of Mr. Sesay and continued to distance the RUF from Mr. Taylor’s control.

Mr. Sesay denied allegations that Sam Bockarie obeyed commands from Benjamin Yeaten when the RUF entered Freetown in 1999.
Mr. Sesay told the court that “I have never heard about that, about Benjamin Yeaten’s involvement in the January invasion of 99. It is only in this court that I have heard this. Even in my trial, I did not hear this.”
Mr Sesay concluded his testimony by telling the court how he has nothing to gain from testifying for Mr. Taylor.
Mr Sesay explained that “My decision to come here is because I was sitting in my detention and listening to the radio and hearing people say lies about me just because I disarmed the RUF, so I decided to come here and testify. I have nothing to gain.”

After the end of the defence’s examination in chief the prosecution commenced Mr. Sesay’s cross examination.
Mr. Nicholas Koumjian began by looking at Mr. Sesay’s own defence testimony during his own trial before the Special Court of Sierra Leone, and focused on the arms and ammunition purchased to attack Kono in December 1998.

Prosecution counsel noted that Mr. Sesay’s previous account differed from his account for Mr. Taylor. In 2007, he testified that the ammunition used for the attack on Kono was obtained from Burkina Faso by Mr. Bockarie. This account is supported by a number of prosecution witnesses. However, Mr. Sesay’s told the court this month that the ammunition used on the attack on Kono was purchased from the United Liberation Movement for Democracy in Liberia (ULIMO) rebels.

Confronted with this contradiction, Mr Sesay said that he was mistaken in 2007 and that he can now recall what actually happened. Mr. Koumjian put it to him that he was lying.
“Because you yourself testified in 2007…that the ammunition came from Burkina Faso and you are lying to this Trial Chamber about it, trying to protect Charles Taylor for his responsibility for the terrible things that happened in 1998 and 1999 in Sierra Leone, isn’t that true…you testified under oath in 2007 the ammunition came from Burkina Faso. That was the truth. Were you telling the truth in 2007 or were you lying?”
Mr Sesay responded, “I said when after I had testified, when I was reading the transcript, I realized that the account I had given was not the right account.”

Did Ms Campbell admit to receiving diamonds from Mr Taylor?

Ms Campbell testified that “when I was sleeping, I had a knock on my door, I opened and two men gave me a pouch and said, ‘a gift for you’”. The supermodel told the court that the men did not introduce themselves and she did not know who they were.  But accustomed to receiving gifts, she asked no questions, took the pouch and went back to bed.

It was only the next morning when Ms Campbell “told Ms. Farrow and Ms. White about the incident, and they said it must be Mr. Taylor” that Ms Campbell “thought it was”.

However, as Ms Campbell admitted this theorising was speculative, and in fact, prior to the dinner she had not know who Mr. Taylor was, “had never heard of Liberia”, and have “never heard the term blood diamonds”.

Did Ms Campbell affect the credibility of Mr. Taylor’s testimony?

Given Ms Campbell’s testimony did not effectively implicate Mr. Taylor the supermodel’s evidence should not have much bearing on Mr Taylor’s credibility. However, the supermodel’s evidence did question the credibility of prosecution witnesses Ms White and Ms Farrow, who are also due to testify this week.

Ms White and Ms Farrow are expected to say that Ms Campbell knew the diamonds were from Mr. Taylor. But under cross-examination Ms Campbell told the court that Ms Farrow and Ms White’s witness statements were wrong.

In White’s statement, she said that she was present when Ms Campbell received the diamonds, opening the door for the two men.

“I didn’t see Carole White, I saw the two men, she might have been around the corner but I did not see her,” Ms. Campbell said.

“This is a woman that has a powerful motive to lie about you,” Mr. Griffiths asked Ms. Campbell.

“I trusted her, but I no longer trust her and no longer work with her,” Ms. Campbell replied.

Reflections

So even though a few days have past since the inevitable media circus that accompanied the supermodel’s testimony, it is hard to reach a different conclusion from defence counsel Mr. Courtney Griffith who spoke only a few hours after the Ms Campbell’s testimony.

“Our view is that the prosecution scored a spectacular own goal by calling Naomi Campbell. They called a witness who denies having received diamonds from Charles Taylor. They will call two witnesses on Monday who contradict the witness they just called. It is a complete mess.”

In fact, it’s a conclusion that even appears shared by Ms Brenda Hollis, lead prosecution counsel. Why else would she tell the judges that “for all practical purposes, this witness is not a prosecution witness”?

The witness told the court that West African leaders including former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo, Malian president Alpha Oumar Konare, Togolese president Gnassingbe Eyadema, Gambian president Yayah Jammeh and Mr. Taylor were struggling to work with the then RUF leader Foday Sankoh following the Lome Peace Accord.
Mr. Sesay explained that “during that meeting, the Heads of States spoke one after another but the main thrust of their discussion was that they were the moral guarantors of the Lome Peace Accord and that they were no longer able to work with Foday Sankoh.”

Mr Sesay then explained how president Obasanjo suggested the change of command.
“President Obasanjo asked Mr. Taylor that the time you were negotiating the release of the peacekeepers, ‘who did you speak with?’ and Mr. Taylor said it was this young man sitting here. And Obasanjo said ‘well it seems like Issa is someone who listens to people so do you think we should give him the leadership?’ and Mr. Taylor said ‘yes, Issa is a man that listens to people’.” Mr Sesay testified that the other leaders at the meeting agreed to the idea that he ought to be made leader of the RUF.

Mr. Sesay told the court that he wanted Mr. Sankoh to be consulted before anything was done. However, although Mr. Sankoh wanted Mike Lamin to be given the RUF leadership, the West African leaders were adamant that they wished to work with Mr. Sesay.
A second meeting was held at the Roberts International Airport in Monrovia, where Mr Sesay was informed of the support he had from other West African Leaders (including Sierra Leone’s president Ahmed Tejan Kabbah) and that he was to become leader of the RUF. Mr Sesay was then flown back the following day to Sierra Leone via the Liberian town of Foya. Mr Sesay denied transporting arms and ammunition for Mr. Taylor to Foya.
The Special Court also postponed Namoi Campbell’s testimony after prosecution counsel requested that the supermodel will appear a week later on the 5th of August. The presiding judge Justice Sebutinde, allowing the request, said “we can only say that the leave is granted and the date is postponed accordingly for her appearance, with the hope that it would not be postponed yet again.”

Tuesday’s proceedings focused upon statements made by Ambassador Oluyemi Adenji, a former Special Representative of the UN Secretary General, and the former Force Commander of UN peacekeepers in Sierra Leone, General Daniel Opande. Mr Griffiths, quoting Ambassador Adeneji said: “ECOWAS was unequivocal in support of Sesay and were prepared to work with Sesay alone.” “…It was agreed that Sankoh was no longer a reliable point person for peace and that ECOWAS should identify a reliable commander in the RUF.” “…Sankoh remained uncommitted to the peace process…Sankoh made quick promises to the resolution of the crisis but did not keep them.” However, Ambassador Adeneji’s statement acknowledged that he could not “remember the details of Sesay’s appointment as leader of the RUF.” Ambassador Adeneji’s statement also recounted of how former Sierra Leonean president Kabbah had heaped praise upon Issa Sesay during his defense trial noting that “Issa Sesay made huge contributions in bringing to an end in 2001 the country’s civil war” and that he “proved to be credible and made a huge contribution to the disarmament process.”

General Opande statements, supporting Mr. Sesay’s testimony, explained that the West African leaders were looking for a reliable person in the RUF that they would deal with because “Mr. Sankoh was no longer seen as a reliable leader for peace” and as a result ECOWAS “began to look among the RUF for another leader.”
General Opande noted that “Sesay did not have political acumen but was rather moderate and trustworthy” and that “Sesay was determined to cooperate fully with the peace process in Sierra Leone”.
General Opande described Mr. Sesay in an interview as “a young man who propelled into leadership and was very honest. He even showed respect to me as an elder.”

On Wednesday Mr Sesay denied suggestions that the efforts to free Foday Sankoh from jail by attacking the towns of Kono and Makeni before Freetown – “Operation Free The Leader” – were devised in Liberia with Mr. Taylor, and testified that these attacks were instead independently planned by sections of the RUF.
Lead Defense counsel, Courtenay Griffith asked, “whether the decision to attack Kono, was that designed by Charles Taylor?”

Mr Sesay replied, “No, not at all. It was a mission planned by Sam Bockarie at the meeting we held at Waterworks and he never said that the plan was designed by Charles Taylor.”
Mr Sesay responded to the prosecution’s claim that “the decision to attack Kono, Makeni and Freetown was planned in Monrovia, brought to Sierra Leone by Sam Bockarie and Sam Bockarie gave the order to SAJ Musa to lead the Freetown leg of the operation” by telling the court that this account “ is a bloody lie”.

Mr Sesay explained to the court that “the attack on Freetown was an AFRC affair and before December 1998, Sam Bockarie and SAJ Musa were not even talking to each other.”
“I do not recall any operation we named “Operation Free the Leader” you know that sometimes when you carry out any successful operation, fighters will give it any kind of name but to say that we named any operation or Bockarie planned Operation Free the Leader, no.” On Thursday the court sat entirely in private session as Mr. Sesay’s testimony responded to claims made by protected witnesses.

Mr Griffiths then asked the witness, “What was the distinction between the assistance provided by the Ivory Coast government to the RUF and the assistance provided by the government of Liberia to the RUF?” Mr Sesay replied that “the Ivory Coast government provided a house from 1996, for the RUF and gave them more provisions than the Liberian government which was headed by Mr. Taylor.” Mr Sesay explained to the court that this Ivorian accommodation was occupied initially by Mr. Sankoh and later used by Mr. Kallon following Mr. Sankoh’s arrest in Nigeria.
Mr. Griffiths then asked whether there was “a radio operator based at those premises from 1996 to 2000”. The witness replied that “it did not go up to 2000 – but up to 1998 an operator was there and it was that operator who left and moved to Liberia”. Mr. Sesay later told the court that the operator’s name was Memunatu Deen.”
The witness was also continued to distance Mr. Taylor’s influence over the RUF, even after Mr. Sankoh’s arrest. Mr Griffiths asked the witness “who did you regard as being the head of the RUF in 1999? “The head for the RUF was Mr Sankoh as leader.” “And did you still regard him as being the leader, even though he had been convicted of treason and was in prison?” “Yes. I still regarded him as the leader.”
“And, as far as you are aware, from your interaction with him, who did Sam Bockarie regard as being the head of the RUF at this time, late March/early April 1999?” “It was Mr Sankoh.”

“And as far as you’re aware, at this time, from whom was Sam Bockarie taking instructions?” “Well, during this time, Sam Bockarie was not taking instructions from any other person. Sometimes he would consult with JP Koroma but was not taking instructions from him.”

“As far as you are aware, Mr Sesay, given your position within the RUF at this time, was Sam Bockarie at this time receiving instructions from Charles Taylor?”
“No. He was not getting instructions from Mr Taylor at all.”
Mr Sesay also commented again on the loss of RUF diamonds in Monrovia. The witness told the court that he had been in Monrovia for six days before they went missing. Mr Griffiths then asked, “What were you doing with the diamonds in your possession for six days? Surely you were meant to be taking them to Mr Taylor, so why didn’t you take them straight to him?”

Mr. Sesay replied “No, Bockarie sent me. I should go and wait for Ibrahim Bah in Monrovia, and Ibrahim Bah was to come and pick me up and go to Burkina Faso. I did not have any business with Mr Taylor.

The witness further responded to prosecution allegations that these diamonds were intended for Mr. Taylor, explaining that “if the diamonds were to be taken to Mr Taylor, then obviously they wouldn’t have got missing from me because I was in Monrovia and I travelled for six days.”
On Tuesday the court sat for half a day. During the sitting Mr. Sesay told the court that the escalation in atrocities committed during the Sierra Leonean conflict followed the merger of RUF and AFRC forces and climaxed during the loss of centralised control following the retreat from Freetown.
Mr Sesay told the court that he agreed that “the crime rate increased between ’98 and early ’99 because a lot of crimes were committed in Kono, in Koinadugu District, Bombali District, Port Loko and Freetown,” areas he later explained were used by the AFRC to “flank up to Freetown”.
The witness explained that these practices like “amputations, burning down of houses, killing of civilians” were common amongst the AFRC “up to the time they entered Freetown” in 1999.
The witness then explained to the court that these practices were used by the AFRC when the rebels took control of Freetown and stating that they “continued the same practice, they captured people forcefully, they asked them to carry their loads for them, they amputated civilians, burned and killed civilians, burnt down police stations, killed police men”.
Mr Sesay was also asked to comment on a number of radio transcripts that were broadcast amongst the RUF during the retreat from Freetown. The broadcasts detail the development of tensions within the RUF, and in particular those relating to Dennis Mingo.
Mr Griffiths asked the witness “So help us, Mr Sesay. At this time, July 1999, was there still this tension between various groups within the RUF?” Mr Sesay replied “Yes”.
On Wednesday the witness told the Special Court of Sierra Leone how Mr. Taylor, together with other leaders from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) decided that Sam Bockaire was to remain in Liberia because his refusal to disarm was a hindrance to the peace project.
The witness told the court that Mr. Sankoh “went to Monrovia and they had a meeting about Sam Bockarie’s issue and that himself, President Taylor, President Obasanjo of Nigeria attended that meeting and they decided, because Sam Bockarie was an obstacle in respect of the Lome Peace Accord, Sam Bockarie should stay in Liberia and Foday Sankoh should implement the peace process”
Mr Griffiths then asked “Was the decision for Sam Bockarie to go to Liberia made by Charles Taylor alone as alleged by this prosecution?”
“No, it was not Charles Taylor’s singular decision, Obasanjo was involved in the decision for Bockarie to stay in Monrovia, including Mr. Sankoh,”
Mr Sesay also explained that “Sam Bockarie went to Liberia because he had a quarrel with Mr. Sankoh. He knew that what he was doing was a bad thing that is why he left to go to Liberia because he knew that if we had met him, we would have disciplined him,”
Mr. Sesay also told the court of his meeting with Mr. Taylor following Mr. Sankoh’s arrest in 2000 for ordering the abduction of UN Peacekeepers. The witness told the court that Mr Taylor “looked very angry” when they met in Monrovia.
“Mr. Taylor said if Foday Sankoh and I thought that we can fight the UN — He said that other people will be thinking now, like America and Britain, they will be thinking now that this is the handy work of Charles Taylor but as long as God almighty knows that my hands are clean.”
Mr Sesay told the court that Mr. Taylor informed him that he had received a mandate from West African leaders that “he should talk to the RUF to facilitate the release of the peacekeepers.”
Mr. Griffiths then asked, “Was Mr. Taylor talking to you because he was in control of the RUF or because he had a mandate from the guarantors of the peace process?” Mr Sesay responded by telling the court that “Mr. Taylor talked to me because he had mandate from the guarantors but he was not controlling the RUF. RUF was under the control of Mr. Sankoh.”
On Thursday the trial took an early adjournment as lead defense counsel Courtenay Griffiths was absent. The reasons for his absence were discussed in a private session but it was publically announced that the trial could not proceed for the day.
The trial will resume in a week’s time after a scheduled recess.

Mr Sesay told the court that there was no direct order to amputee and that decision was taken by the fighters themselves because the initial plan had not worked. Mr Griffith asked the witness directly, “Was Operation Stop Elections a directive from Charles Taylor to Foday Sankoh?” “No, at this time Mr Sankoh and Mr Taylor had no business. Mr Sankoh was leader of his own organisation. He was the CIC of the RUF. He gave the directive to the field commander to carry out the Operation Stop Elections.”

Mr Griffith then asked Mr Sesay whether he was “aware of any communication from Charles Taylor to Foday Sankoh at this time ordering Operation Stop Election?”

“No, not at all, because by then I was with Mr Sankoh. When he came out I join them in Yamoussoukro and we all went to Abidjan. I was there up to the time Mr Sankoh went to Burkina Faso, and during that time I never heard that Mr Sankoh had any communications with Mr Taylor. No, they did not communicate at the time I was there. And even at the time I left there, I did not hear from anyone that Mr Sankoh had any communication with Mr Taylor whilst he was in Ivory Coast and even during the time of this attack”.

The witness was then asked to comment on any testimony that said otherwise and Mr. Sesay told the court “that person would not be telling the truth”. Mr Sesay also denied that the RUF were ordered to attack Sierra Rutile by Charles Taylor and that, as far as he was aware, Charles Taylor was not in contact with Mr. Sankoh at the time of the attack. The witness told the court that Mr Sankoh “was very, very much angry with Mr Taylor because according to him, he said Mr Taylor thought that without him he will not be able to fight his war. So he cut off all communications with him.”

Similarly Mr Sesay denied that Mr Taylor had ordered the RUF to hand over the hostages taken at Sierra Rutile to the Red Cross. “I hate to sound like a stuck record” asked Mr Griffith,” but I need to ask the same question again. Did Charles Taylor give the order to Foday Sankoh to release those hostages? “Not at all. During this time, I said since ’92, Mr Sankoh was operating independently. He was operating as the leader of the RUF. He was not taking any instruction from Mr Taylor, nor were they having any communications at this point in time.”

The witness also told the court that Charles Taylor had not provided the RUF with arms or ammunition in 1997. Mr Sesay said that at that time the RUF “had no communication with Mr Taylor. We did not receive anything from him. At this time ULIMO was controlling from St Paul’s River up to Mendekoma.” Mr Sesay added that it would have been “impossible” to contact Mr. Taylor “because ULIMO was controlling the entire Lofa and they entered parts of Bong County”, and denied that there was any radio contact

Mr Sesay said that the RUF traded with ULIOM between 1996 and 1997 and that during this time the RUF were not getting ammunition from any other sources. Mr Griffith asked whether the ammunition was coming from Charles Taylor or ULIOM? Mr Sesay responded by saying, “No, this was ULIMO ammunition. They were owned by ULIMO. And at that time ULIMO were armed and they were an independent group on their own. It was an organisation on its own. This was before the disarmament in Liberia.”

The following day, Mr Sesay explained how the RUF were able to purchase arms and ammunition. Mr Sesay told the court that the Libyan leader had given Mr Sankoh US$3.5 million and described how these arms were then delivered by air to the RUF at Mayagba, where villagers had been used to prepare a local airfield.

Mr Griffith seeking clarification asked, “Who paid for the arms and ammunition which came on that flight in the autumn of 1997?” “It was Mr Sankoh who bought the ammunition. It was Mr Sankoh who bought the arms and ammunition. It was Johnny Paul who was responsible to pay for its transportation” “Mr Sesay, was it not Mr Taylor who paid for them with diamonds which he took to South Africa?” “No, at that time Mr Taylor and Mr Sankoh had no business. Mr Sankoh bought those ammunition purely from the money he had got from the Libyan leader”

“I really want to be clear about this, Mr Sesay, because it’s very important. Was it not the case that Mr Taylor took some diamonds originating from Sierra Leone to South Africa with him and that he used that to pay for this shipment?” “No, before we joined the AFRC, we had no talk or business with Mr Taylor. And when we joined the AFRC, Johnny Paul had no business with Mr Taylor. At this time there was no transaction between the AFRC and Mr Taylor. Mr Sankoh had bought this ammunition and arms before he was arrested in Nigeria.”

The witness then told the court that it “was not possible at that time” for the plane to have come via Liberia “because the time that I’m talking about, ECOMOG was in charge of Liberia security in Liberia, so that was not possible at RIA.”

Finally, in a day that also addressed the development of the RUF’s ‘Footpaths to Democracy’, Mr Sesay was presented with a letter addressed to Charles Taylor signed by Johnny Paul Koroma. Mr Sesay stated that this was the first time that he had seen this letter and that despite having been a member of the AFRC Council in October 1997, when the letter was dated, he was unaware that this document had been sent.

On the following day, the witness told the court that Charles Taylor had neither ordered nor planned the attack on the diamond-rich town of Kono in Sierra Leone.

Mr. Griffiths asked, “Did Charles Taylor plan and order the Fiti Fata mission?” “No, it was not Mr. Taylor because as far as I know, Sam Bockarie was not in contact with Mr. Taylor,” Mr. Sesay replied.

Mr Sesay instead told the court that it was the ULIMO rebels that sold ammunition to an RUF member called Kennedy. Mr Sesay said that Kennedy stored the ammunition underground before passing it on to Superman who used the ammunition to attack Kono.

Mr. Sesay also addressed the prosecution’s allegations that Mr. Taylor had sent traditional herbalists to Buedu to perform a ceremony to protect RUF fighters from bullets. Mr Sesay told the court that the medicine men came from Lofa County after Bockarie requested Major Moiba “to get the men who were protecting the ULIOM fighters”. Sam Bockarie gave “one of the ex-ULIMO fighters called Titus…a Lorma guy” money and he came back with the herbalists who performed the ceremonies’”

Mr. Griffiths then asked, “What do you say to suggestions that these medicine men were in fact sent by Charles Taylor?” Mr. Sesay replied “That is a black lie,”

Mr. Sesay also responded to prosecution testimony he misplaced diamonds he was supposed to take to Mr Taylor in 1998.  Mr. Sesay admitted that he had lost some diamonds in Monrovia but that they were meant to be exchanged and sold in Burkina Faso for arms and ammunition.

The witness told the court how there were only enough weapons for the instructors whilst he trained at camp Nama and explained that the RUF subsequently obtained their arms and ammunition by capturing it from enemy forces and later purchasing some supplies from Guinea. The witness also denied the massacre of civilians along the Sierra Leone Liberia boarder in 1993 as the RUF retreated from the Sierra Leone, telling the court that “if we had ammo we would have used it to defend ourselves, rather than conduct raids against civilians”.

In response to Defense questioning, Mr Sesay admitted that the RUF had been involved in looting, murder, rape, forced labor, forced marriage but denied that such behavior was the general policy of the RUF and explained that RUF members were trained not to behave in this way. Mr Sesay also told the court that the RUF contained child soldiers, their enlistment was not a policy of the RUF but a decision of specific individual commanders. Mr Sesay admitted that there were children training at camp Sokoto but that these children only attended ideology classes and did not take part in the military training.

Mr Sesay’s testimony continues tomorrow.