Liberia: Court Resumes at 4 July 2008
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GUEST BLOG
4 July 2008
Posted to the web 10 July 2008
The monitors of former President Charles Taylor's trial report for www.charlestaylortrial.org
First Session 10.00-12.00 (with 30 minutes delay in audio and video). There is only a daily summary of the first session, since the second session went into closed session after 55 minutes.
The Prosecution starts the examination of the witness and shows MFI 1 document with a signature.
Attacking Makeni and Tombo
The witness testified last Wednesday that their forces took Makeni. He was with Issa Sesay as his bodyguard. He was also with Issa Sesay in Waterloo. He would see any report with whom he was working. The Prosecution shows the witness a report from Raymond Katewo. Raymond Katewo was a Black Guard in the Waterloo area and was walking with Christ A Manneh. Mayor Christ A Manneh was an overall commander, a BFC (=Battle Field Commander). He was the commander for the soldiers in the front lines. The SLAs and Gullit were the first to enter Freetown.
The Prosecution asks the witness about Colonel Boston Flomo alias Van Damme, also known as Rambo. The witness testifies that Boston Flomo was also called Van Damme because he was a strong fighter. Van Damme was his nickname. Boston Flomo met with the strike force commander on 5 January. Issa Sesay instructed Boston Flomo to go away and to join Gullit’s group.
Kosso Town was a town after Hastings, on the left of Jewy. They attempted an attack on Kosso Town. The captured civilians were to be trained so they could join the witness’ group to increase the numbers of fighters. The Galant Men would train them how to fight.
Finally, they took Tombo road, because the ECOMOG forces were at Tombo. They wanted to attack Tombo. However, they did not succeed at all.
Diamond mining
The Black Guards kept records of the diamond mining. One of the Black Guards was Joseph Bakundu, he would take the records. Joseph Bakundu was also a RUF commando. The witness saw a record of mining from this Black Guard. The Prosecution shows the document MFI 4 it states "Class: Black Guard"; "Subject: Record Book".
The witness was in Kono as a Black Guard as well. Joseph Bakundu was his colleague Black Guard with whom he was working hand in hand. He would see the report Joseph Bakundu would make. The first page of the report states names: Abdul Konoma; Abduraman Kemara; Tom Bajillah…the witness states that he did not know Tom Bajillah.
It was Issa Sesay who ordered Josef Bakundu to take the reports. He was there as security and he should take record of every diamond that was found. If the diamond was more than one karat, they would get a percentage. The Prosecution reads the document: "Stage two Kono production" says "manners" or "miners". The witness explains that the miners are the ones doing the job.
Griffiths is objecting for the Defense since the document is obscure and parts of the documents have been cut off. The Defense requests an original because they cannot make out some of the dates or the full extend of the document.
The Prosecution mentions that they do not have the original, since the original has been returned to the Sierra Leonean government. However, they will attempt to obtain the Book again. The presiding judge takes notes from both Griffiths’ and Hollis’ arguments and the examination proceeds.
The Prosecution reads from the document: "259.30 percent." The witness explains that the diamonds were weighed. The point behind 259 is the percentage, nevertheless, the witness seems confused. The Defense argueshat the witness is not the writer of the report and that he is not an expert on diamonds. The Defense asks to what extend the witness can assist them the meaning of the document. Judge Lussick would like to know if the witness actually knows what is written on the document. The Prosecution proceeds and reads: "Total of diamonds 1260 pieces 259.30 percent". The witness explains that the numbers refer to all the diamonds that were put together. After they have weighed everything they came up to 259.30 as the total amount. That is the karat. The Prosecution also wants to know what "Combatant production: 28 pieces, 6 carat and 25 percent" means. The witness said that this is the outcome of what the combatants would mine for themselves.
Relevant Links
The Prosecution wants to clarify which Sam Bockarie was providing diamonds. There was a soldier calling himself Sam Bockarie, but that was not Mosquito. He just used his name. They would mine for this Sam Bockarie because he was in charge at that time. Did Issa Sesay had an adjutant called Jabbah? After the witness’ group had captured Koidu they went to Makeni and Waterloo. Issa sessay sat with his adjutant and reported to Issa Sesay. He sent a report to Sam Bockarie. The witness saw him preparing the document. On the last page of the document there is a signature line with "adjudant", this signature is from Issa Sesay’s adjutant Jabba. The witness testifies that he has seen the document and that after Issa Sesay completed his mission he sat with his adjutant and told him to report. The witness saw him signing. Later the document was read to the witness in Krio language by the investigators of the trial.
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