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Prosecutor pushes court to convict, jail and sanction Kosiah
Mr Kosiah is alleged to have recruited a 12-year-old boy in 1992 in Bomi County and used him as child-soldier throughout the first half of the civil war. 3 min read
Alieu Kosiah should be convicted of all the war crimes charges he faces, jailed for a maximum 20 years and then barred from entering Switzerland for 15 years, prosecutors said on Monday in their final argument four days to the end of the historic trial.
Chief prosecutor Andreas Müller told the Swiss Federal Criminal Court Mr Kosiah was guilty of the 25 counts of murder, cannibalism, rape, sexual enslavement, forced transportation, looting and recruitment of child-soldier. He told the three-judge panel that Mr Kosiah killed for power and looted for wealth.
Liberia: Prosecutor Pushes Court to Convict, Jail and Sanction Kosiah frontpageafricaonline.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from frontpageafricaonline.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Why Finland is holding a war crimes trial in Liberia msn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from msn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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Liberia’s back-to-back civil wars were some of the bloodiest in African history, leaving an estimated 250,000 dead after 14 years of appalling bloodshed.
Although the fighting ended in 2003, very few of those responsible for war crimes have been tried.
The conflicts were marked by mass murders, rape and mutilations, with warlords using child soldiers.
Atrocities against civilians were common with drugged-up fighters chopping off people’s limbs.
No one has been prosecuted in Liberia itself, with many of the most guilty still powerful figures there.
But cases are underway in other countries, with Finland putting Gibril “Angel Gabriel” Massaquoi a Sierra Leone rebel who fought in Liberia on trial Wednesday accused of murder, rape and recruiting children.