Court Hears Testimony that Massaquoi Was Not in Liberia with the RUF
Court Hears Testimony that Massaquoi Was Not in Liberia with the RUF
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The four judge panel from Finland hearing the case against Gibril Massaquoi Leslie Lumeh/New Narratives
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone – A defense witness in the war crimes trial of Gibril Massaquoi told the Finnish court holding hearings here that he fought with the Revolutionary United Front in Lofa County in 2001 but Massaquoi was not with them.
Report by
Mae Azango, New Narratives Justice correspondent
The witness, codenamed “11” to protect him from intimidation, was a radio operator for RUF leader Foday Sankoh’s station called Secret Signal Broadcasting (SSB). He said he met Massaquoi in 1999 when they were all in the RUF together.
4 min read
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone – The hearings in the war crimes trial of Gibril Massaquoi got underway on Tuesday after a two week delay because of judges’ illness.
The court, held at a secret location, as it had been in Monrovia, heard from three witnesses – a woman and two men. Defence and prosecution teams tried to establish whether Massaquoi could have been in Liberia to commit crimes in 2003 as many Liberian witnesses claimed but while Massaquoi was under witness protection in Freetown.
The second witness, codenamed “21”, to protect him from intimidation was called by the Defence team. A male he had been a close friend of Massaquoi whom he got to know him in 1999 after Massaquoi was freed from prison here.
“Massaquoi Could Not Have Been In Liberia In 2002 When He Feared For His Life”
“Massaquoi Could Not Have Been In Liberia In 2002 When He Feared For His Life”
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Gibril Massaquoi remains in Finland during the Sierra Leone hearings in his war crimes trial. Leslie Lumeh/New Narratives
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone – The hearings in the war crimes trial of Gibril Massaquoi got underway on Tuesday after a two week delay because of judges’ illness. The court, held at a secret location, as it had been in Monrovia, heard from three witnesses – a woman and two men. Defense and prosecution teams tried to establish whether Massaquoi could have been in Liberia to commit crimes in 2003 as many Liberian witnesses claimed but while Massaquoi was under witness protection in Freetown.
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.”
Typhoid delays Massaquoi war crimes hearings in Sierra Leone
Massaquoi is being prosecuted in Finland for war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed in Liberia. 3 min read
The Finnish court trying Sierra Leonean Gibril Massaquoi for war crimes allegedly committed in Liberia has delayed hearings by nearly two weeks because of 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.