{"id":10961,"date":"2010-07-06T01:04:25","date_gmt":"2010-07-06T05:04:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sierraexpressmedia.com\/?p=10961"},"modified":"2010-07-06T01:04:25","modified_gmt":"2010-07-06T05:04:25","slug":"ex-rebel-denies-giving-charles-taylor-diamonds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/?p=10961","title":{"rendered":"Ex-rebel denies giving Charles Taylor diamonds"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Sierra Leone ex-rebel has denied at a war crimes trial giving “blood diamonds” to former Liberian President Charles Taylor (Photo: Mr Taylor is on trial in The Hague<\/em>).<\/p>\n

Issa Sesay, who is serving a 52-year jail term, said Mr Taylor had not been in charge of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebel group during the war.<\/p>\n

Mr Taylor is accused of using diamonds to fuel a conflict in Sierra Leone that cost tens of thousands of lives.<\/p>\n

He has pleaded not guilty to 11 charges.<\/p>\n

The UN-backed war crimes tribunal in The Hague has spent more than two years hearing the case, with seven months spent with Mr Taylor himself on the stand.<\/p>\n

Sesay, 40, was sentenced in October 2009 by the same special court, which was set up to try suspects from the civil war.<\/p>\n

Murders and rapes<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mr Taylor, 62, is suspected of selling diamonds and buying weapons for Sierra Leone’s RUF rebels, who were notorious for hacking off the hands and legs of civilians during the 1991-2001 civil war.<\/p>\n

\n

CHARLES TAYLOR<\/strong><\/h3>\n
    \n
  • 1997: Elected Liberian president<\/li>\n
  • 2003: Arrest warrant issued, steps down, goes into exile in Nigeria<\/li>\n
  • 2006: Arrested, sent to Sierra Leone<\/li>\n
  • 2007: Trial opens in The Hague<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Tens of thousands of people died in the interlinked conflicts in Sierra Leone and Liberia.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

    Sesay, the highest profile witness to testify for Mr Taylor’s defence, said he had never given Mr Taylor gems and that, as far as he knew, neither had other leaders.<\/p>\n

    \n

    “No, I don’t remember giving diamonds to Mr Charles Taylor,” he told the court.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

    He also denied receiving weapons or ammunition from Mr Taylor, and said the first time he met him was in May 2000.<\/p>\n

    Sesay did acknowledge that some rebel commanders had been responsible for murders and rapes during the conflict, and said that the amputation of limbs had occurred.<\/p>\n

    But it had not been the policy of the rebel group to use such actions, he said.<\/p>\n

    Prosecutors have ordered supermodel Naomi Campbell to appear as a witness on 29 July, after claims that she received a diamond from Mr Taylor at a reception in South Africa in 1997.<\/p>\n

    Ms Campbell has previously declined to provide testimony.<\/p>\n

    In an interview on the Oprah Winfrey Show, she neither confirmed nor denied that she received the gem, instead saying: “I don’t want to be involved in this man’s case. He has done some terrible things, and I don’t want to put my family in danger.”<\/p>\n

    US actress Mia Farrow, who Ms Campbell allegedly told about the gift, may also testify.<\/p>\n

    \u00c2\u00a0BBC News<\/em><\/p>\n

    Stay with Sierra Express Media, for your trusted place in news!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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