Comments on: Ivorian Government Provided Accomodation For The RUF Longer Than Charles Taylor Did, Former Rebel Leader Testifies.

By: Jocone

Jocone — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 17:14:38 +0000

My brother Dahn,
Some Liberians who hate Mr. Taylor don’t what the congressman meant. What was saying is that, it will bad for Liberia if Mr. Taylor was to returned to the country because he will surely run for the presidency and he will win and if he does, those who hate him and want to see him die in jail will take arms to fight as they did before.

By: Jocone

Jocone — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 17:08:16 +0000

I disagreed, I think we should be saying that some people on this site opinoins. I was call a rebel by Fallah on this site. I did called me a general for Mr. Taylor NPFL just for saying what I knew. As the result, I don’t post now a day like I used to. I know for a fact that the trial of Mr. Taylor for what happened in Sierra Leone was the wrong decision made by the international community. As such, I did ask a question as how was RUF getting weapons to continue thier fight in Sierra Leone when ULIMO did control the border of liberia and Sierra Leone. You know what? I was called a rebel where as I did not fight in the war in Liberia. I came to the U.S.A before becoming a Soldier.

By: Sam

Sam — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 09:34:56 +0000

Rgk007,
Actually if you listen to the totality of the prosecution case, that is the allegation they have made against Charles Taylor. It will do you a lot of good to download and read the prosecution closing arguments where they gave a summary of their case against Charles Taylor. you can download it from the transcript section of the scsl website.

By: Tracey Gurd

Tracey Gurd — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 23:23:23 +0000

Hi rgk007 — I will ask Alpha to respond to your question next week.
Best,
Tracey

By: Tracey Gurd

Tracey Gurd — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 23:20:31 +0000

Hi Sam — I do hope that you will continue sending in your comments, as you contribute greatly to the debate here. All I can say for Alpha and myself is that we will continue doing our best to ensure this site carries fair and accurate reporting, and that our moderation of policy is based on transparent rules which we apply as fairly as we can. I continue to welcome any comments when you or other readers feel Alpha or I have treated you unfairly. We remain happy to discuss.
Best,
Tracey

By: Rgk007

Rgk007 — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 09:14:18 +0000

“According to prosecutors, Mr. Sesay had taken these diamonds to Mr. Taylor in Liberia — an account which Mr. Sesay has denied.” .

This is from your summary Mr Sessay of open justice initiative. However, I would like you to lead me to the exact period the prosecution made this allegation with regards to Issa Sessay’s diamonds. That is, where did they claim those diamonds were intended for Mr Taylor. Please refer me to the transcript. Thanks.

By: sam

sam — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 06:11:31 +0000

Good word Helen! I really do not beleive in the rhetorics of the west in terms of supporting democracy. they got what they did not bargain for in palestine when they agreed to conduct a free and fair election there. they also go what they did not bargain for when they allowed free and fair elections in Liberia because in those two instances the popular candidates won! – Charles Taylor in Liberia and Hamas in Palestine. what did the west do after realising thier mistake? they engineered they downfall of those democratically elected governements because they think they know what is best for other people instead of allowing those people to choose themselves. well they will get even a bigger shock in 2011. Because they will have to bring in americans and british people to come and vote in order for Ellen to win that election or better still they can simply conduct the election in America and Britain and announce the result to the Liberian people. Apart from that, Ellen their candidate will loose the election woefully because the Liberian people know what they want all they are asking for is TO BE LEFT ALONE. The west should STOP medlling.

By: sam

sam — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 05:57:37 +0000

Nosirrah,
Well let me start by saying I do not take any personal interest in your posts it just happens that probably you are currently the most vocal of the prosecution supporters who at least brings in some logic into his arguments rather than merely rant and rave about the guilt of Charles Taylor like the prosecution instead of attempting to convince us with sound arguments to necessitate fruitful dialogue on issues from this case.

Now here is the answer to your question:
He was instructed by Sam Bockarie to go to monrovia along with Memunatu Deen to await Ibrahim Bah who is expected to come to monrovia and pick him to Burkina Faso to in effect buy arms.- That was Issa Sessay’s testimony to the court.

Now in your response to my question you actually did not answer the question you simply transferred it to Issa Sessay. well Issa Sessay has already answered the question to the court. The diamonds were not meant for Charles Taylor. that explains why those diamonds were with him for 3days according to the prosecution but 6 days according to issa sessay before they eventually got missing while waiting for Ibrahim Bah to join him in Monrovia. because logically if those diamonds were meant for Charles Taylor, Issa would have handed them over to him immediately he got to monrovia but even by the account of the prosecution, that was not the case, he kept them for 3days in monrovia instead of giving them to Charles Taylor. Well the prosecution and their supporters have a duty to convince us as to why we should not believe Issa Sessay’s logical answer but rather believe the prosecution’s version.

Next you claim that the news about diamonds been picked up in Monrovia was in effect a diversionary tactics or at best a ruse by either Issa Sessay or Charles Taylor (I really did not get who you allege was trying to play pranks) has to be proven beyond all reasonable doubt. As it stands there is no evidence before this court to support that claim.(if there is please point me to it).

It is not impossible for Benjamin Yeaten to sell ammunition to RUF without Mr Taylor’s knowledge. Guinean solders sold ammunition to RUF, ECOMOG sold ammunition to the RUF, Gen Diendere in Burkina Faso sold ammunition to the RUF. Are you saying now that because some corrupt officials in these contries sold ammunition to the RUF then the governments of those countries were supporting the RUF? or the authorities in ECOWAS were supporting the RUF? Even this prosecution that is known to make the most frivolous assertions/suggestions without any proof have not accussed any of the presidents of these governments or ECOWAS of supporting the RUF (at least there is no evidence to that effect on the record) why then should the case of Liberia be different?

By: sam

sam — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 05:17:10 +0000

Simeon,
I absolutely agree that readers on this site should respect other readers I also agree that everyone is entittled to his opinion. But nobody is entitled to a WRONG opinion. In this forum when someone attempts to present his opinion as a fact, it triggers immediate reponses from other readers because this is an highly emotional criminal case. this is not a village square where tales are told under the nite sky. this is a serious forum discussing about an historic case which has the capacity to impact future trials of ex presidents and has changed the history of west africa forever. so when one is presenting his opinion here, he should make it clear that it is an opinion not to wrongly present it as fact making outlandishly false assertions about the case without any shred of proof to help establish the credibility of the claim.

We might not know it but this site is actually a resource for many journalists from africa who are trying to follow the case without going to the hague to witness it live. I was reading an online edition of a newspaper recently and suprisingly it carried alpha’s summary almost word for word and even refered to user comments from this site. so you see that this forum has the capacity to shape public opinion about the trial.

My only complain about this site is the biase (my view) by Tracey or alpha in moderating pro-Taylor comments on this forum. I have complained about it several times but they keep giving me almost the same answer evrytime – they try to be fare to everybody. well for me I do not agree with the reasons they give for disqualifying some comments. I do not know wether that biase stems from self censorship or it is even an unconcious biase. I wonder what this site would have been had this case not been a case that raises emotion necessitating emotional comments on this site. However as I have said on many occassions I will not stop sending comments even if those comments are not posted by Tracey/Apha. As long as i satisfy myself that I have not broken any rules and I respect other readers, I will keep sending comments because keeping quiet will only give this prosecution and their western allies a propaganda advantage.

By: Helen

Helen — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 20:49:08 +0000

Kennedy needs to focus on the oil spill rather than put his mouth in the internal affairs of Liberia. It is not his place to be speaking about an accused while the trial is going on. He should know better than to do so as this would not be allowed in the US. They however have no regards for Africans and think they can do anything, break any law with impunity.

He is not an idiot who does not know what is the right thing to say, he is however exhibiting a flaggrant disregard for the wishes of the people of Liberia. He is in effect telling the people that this is how they should behave and proceed. These are the people who are constantly drumming into the airwaves that Democracy is the way forward. Yet when it comes to other countries, the will of the people does not matter. What a twisted world we live in; a world where principles only apply when it is one group of people involved. The rules change when the powerful say it should. Disgraceful!