Gibril Massaquoi, at a court in Finland
The Finnish court trying Sierra Leonean Gibril Massaquoi for war crimes allegedly committed in Liberia has delayed hearings by nearly two weeks because of the acute illness of two of the four judges, including Presiding Judge Juhani Paiho.
The Freetown hearings of the trial which began in Finland in February were to begin on April 28 but they have been pushed back each day since then as the judges recovered. The latest start date is now set for May 11.
“The head judge is presently hospitalized due to typhoid fever and last week, one of our female judges was also in the hospital for the same ailment,” said Thomas Elfgren, Detective Chief Superintendent of the Finland National Bureau of Investigations. “We would have started on time had it not been for this unforeseen situation.”