Defense lawyers for Charles Taylor today concluded the direct examination of the former Liberian president’s 20th defense witness. The witness’s direct examination was concluded mostly in private session as defense lawyers focused on discussing certain issues and submission of exhibits that, if discussed in public, would disclose the identity of the witness and the identities of [...]
September
1
2010
Liberian Radio Operator Disputes The Evidence Of RUF Radio Operators
Charles Taylor’s 20th defense witness, a former radio operator first in the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) rebel group and then in the Special Security Service (SSS) unit of Mr. Taylor’s government, today disputed the evidence of several Revolutionary United Front (RUF) radio operators, who in 2008 testified before the Special Court for Sierra Leone about [...]
The prosecution witness and former member of Charles Taylor’s National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) rebel group, Joseph Zig Zag Marzah, did not have physical proximity to the former Liberian president, a former radio operator attached to Mr. Taylor’s Special Security Service (SSS) unit told the Special Court for Sierra Leone judges in The Hague today. In 2008, Mr. [...]
August
30
2010
Charles Taylor’s Former Vice President Moses Blah Ordered The Execution Of RUF Commander Sam Bockarie, Witness Says
Charles Taylor’s former Vice President Moses Blah ordered the execution of a Sierra Leonean rebel commander in Liberia who was already a subject of an indictment issued by the Special Court for Sierra Leone in 2003, a former radio operator in Charles Taylor’s Special Security Services (SSS) unit today told the Special Court for Sierra Leone [...]
In concluding his evidence today as the 19th defense witness for Charles Taylor, Issa Hassan Sesay, the convicted former interim leader of the Sierra Leonean rebel group which Mr. Taylor is accused of supporting, used the opportunity to apologise to the people of Sierra Leone for his role in the conflict and the actions of [...]
As prosecutors concluded his cross-examination today, Issa Hassan Sesay, the convicted former interim leader of Sierra Leone’s main rebel group told Special Court for Sierra Leone judges in The Hague that he did not know and does not believe that Charles Taylor sent men to kill him while he was trying to disarm rebel forces in [...]
August
25
2010
As Issa Sesay Resumes His Testimony, He Says The RUF Did Not Fight For Charles Taylor In Guinea and Liberia
Returning to the stand after a brief illness, a former Sierra Leonean rebel leader said his group did not fight battles for former Liberian President, Charles Taylor, in neighboring Guinea and Liberia. In the trial of Mr. Taylor for his alleged role in war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Sierra Leone during the [...]
August
24
2010
Charles Taylor Did Not Know About Benjamin Yeaten’s Friendship With RUF Commander Sam Bockarie, Liberian Radio Operator Says
Former Liberian president Charles Taylor had no knowledge that his Director of Special Security Services had a close friendship with a Sierra Leonean rebel commander in 1998, a Liberian national testifying on behalf of Mr. Taylor told the Special Court for Sierra Leone judges in The Hague today. The witness, who worked as a radio operator in the National Patriotic [...]
A letter that was tendered in evidence by Charles Taylor as being one written by the former interim leader of the Sierra Leonean rebel group that Mr. Taylor is accused of providing support for could have been forged by another person. The witness today told the Special Court for Sierra Leone judges in The Hague that he [...]
Former interim leader of the Sierra Leonean rebel group that Charles Taylor is accused of providing support for today made considerable effort to distance his rebel group from the 1999 invasion of Freetown, an attack which saw the commission of heinous crimes including murder, rape, amputations of the arms and limbs of civilians, and the [...]
