February 10, 2023 [Liberia] Day 11: Three more witnesses are heard
Witness Civilian 75 is heard
The prosecution questions Civilian 75
The prosecution began their questioning by asking Civilian 75 about where and when she had lived in Monrovia and asked her to describe an incident where soldiers detained her. She testified that in 2001, she was living with her late aunt near the Police Academy. They used to sell goods in Waterside together. One morning, the stores were all closed but Civilian 75 saw one that was open. She saw people going inside the store and coming back out with biscuits in their hands. According to Civilian 75, somebody began to fire and they ran way. Her friend was hit and could not run anymore. Civilian 75 testified that she was running towards a bridge when she was detained. Civilian 65 was also detained. Civilian 75 was dragged to a checkpoint, where people were being beaten. The witness stated that she still has scars from the incident.
Civilian 75 stated that she saw dead bodies at the checkpoint. Soldiers picked some women from the crowd and they were taken away to the commander. At the checkpoint, she heard the soldiers saying the names Michael and Angel Michael. The soldiers were wearing Liberian uniforms. The commander was wearing a white t-shirt, a hat and “uniform trousers.” The commander gave an order to put people in line and said to them that he would kill them, saying “when you meet God, tell him that I, Angel Gabriel, sent you”.
According to Civilian 75, a vehicle appeared. A woman in the vehicle knew Civilian 75’s late aunt and asked her what they were doing there. The woman told the soldiers that they were not rebels and took Civilian 75 and Civilian 65 to a junction and they escaped from there.
Civilian 75 continued, saying that the people shooting at the store were soldiers, who all had Liberian uniforms. She explained that she saw her friend being hit and has not seen this friend ever since.
According to Civilian 75, the checkpoint she had referred to had an “upstairs building” and was not painted. They were located in Waterside, near the Old Bridge “repaired by Ma Ellen”. The store was located in Waterside near the bridge: “When you passed, the first and the second store, that’s where it is”. According to Civilian 75, Civilian 65 was also taken to the checkpoint.
Civilian 75 stated that the commander had a “funny way of speaking”, and didn’t speak like a Liberian, but rather spoke Krio, which she said resembles Temne. The first time Civilian 75 heard the name of the commander was at the checkpoint, it was said out loud by the soldiers who were with him. They called him Gabriel, Angel Gabriel. She described how the commander arrived at the checkpoint and gave an order to shoot the people as they were rebels. People were lined up, and then soldiers began to shoot them. Civilian 75 testified that she saw this with her own eyes. She could not estimate how many people were shot. Civilian 75 and Civilian 65 spent about an hour at the checkpoint before they managed to escape. This all happened in 2001. Then, the witness showed her scars to the Court.
Civilian 75 stated that she remembered when she spoke with the Finnish for the first time about these events. She testified that she had heard about the arrest of a Liberian in Finland. She had gone to buy goods and met with Civilian 65 and they spoke about the events. Civilian 65 gave her his phone number and told her that there are people in Liberia [interested in these events].
Finally, the witness testified that her aunt died during the war. She stated that they were in Waterside together, and that her aunt had given her money to buy goods and that was the last time Civilian 75 saw her.
The defense questions Civilian 75
The defense began by asking Civilian 75 whether she had heard that somebody had been arrested in connection with the events in Waterside before talking to the Finnish police, to which she replied that she had not.
She testified that Civilian 65 had told her about the person being arrested. She described that there was a boy named Gabriel living within her community, and somebody had joked that they hoped he wasn’t Gabriel Massaquoi. Civilian 75 did not know when the news came out, as and they don’t listen to the radio where she was inland. After the joke about the boy named Gabriel, Civilian 75 discussed the ‘issue’ with Civilian 65, who had said Gabriel is a bad person. Civilian 75 could not remember Civilian 80.
Next, the defense asked about the witness’s late aunt. Civilian 75 testified that she left her aunt in Waterside as the shooting began and hadn’t seen her since.
The witness was asked why she had provided two different names that the soldiers had called the commander: both Gabriel and Michael. Civilian 75 responded that she had made a mistake, the commander was called Gabriel Massaquoi, and that she heard the name Massaquoi from the soldiers. The defense pointed out that in her police interview, Civilian 75 did not mention the name Massaquoi, she only spoke of Angel Gabriel. Civilian 75 replied that at the time she had forgotten his last name, and could only remember the name Gabriel, but that as she had conversations later, she could remember the name Massaquoi. The defense then pointed out that Civilian 75 had not mentioned the name Massaquoi in the lower court either. Civilian 75 repeated that she had discussed the events with Civilian 65 and some other people who had also used the name.
Next, Civilian 75 explained that she cannot distinguish between Temne and Mende, but that the commander did not sound like a Liberian. She could not remember any other battles going in Monrovia except for the events in Waterside because she was not in Monrovia. She was asked about her police interview, as she had said that the Waterside events occurred during World War I, in 2001. She explained that she left Monrovia after the incident and when she returned in 2008, she learned about World Wars I, II and III from her friends and relatives. The defense pointed out to Civilian 75 that she is among a group of witnesses that all incorrectly placed World War I in 2001. Civilian 75 responded that she left Monrovia 2001, after the incident. She explained that although she had discussed what had happened at Waterside with Civilian 65, they did not discuss the date.
Next, there was some confusion between the defense, the witness, and the court, as to whether and how witnesses Civilian 65, 75 and 80 knew each other. The matter was therefore dropped.
Finally, Civilian 75 testified that people were shot inside the store. She did not hear the names of any soldiers other than “Angel”. According to Civilian 75, the building at the checkpoint might have also had rooms upstairs, but she could not remember whether the building had a roof. She repeated that Angel Gabriel was wearing Liberian police trousers, a white t-shirt and a hat. The defense pointed out that the witness had not recalled the clothes during the police interview. She replied that she has been thinking about it and remembered the clothing later and confirmed that she had not discussed Angel Gabriel’s clothing with anyone. Civilian 75 said that she had not experienced similar events of store looting or people being shot in Waterside and she had not been told about similar events. The defense pointed out that she had mentioned during the police investigation that people had spoken about similar events in Waterside, but this was the only one that she herself had experienced. Civilian 75 repeated that this was the only event she experienced herself and that she had not heard about similar events.
Witness Civilian 65 is heard
Before Civilian 65 began his testimony, he expressed concerns regarding his safety to the Court. The Court reassured him that no photographs were taken of witnesses, and that the media had agreed not to publish their names. They also reminded the witness that the Finnish police would remain present in Liberia throughout the hearings and that they had set up a special number that witnesses could use to contact them if they experienced any threats to their security.
The prosecution questions Civilian 65
The prosecution asked Civilian 65 to speak about a particular incident in Waterside that he remembers. Civilian 65 testified that he sold goods in Waterside and that one morning, all the stores were closed except for one. This store had people going in and carrying biscuits out and there were soldiers, some wearing Liberian uniforms. Civilian 65 and others decided to go to the store when some people inside the store were shot and killed. The witness explained that he and the others tried to move away but were told to stay where they were. They were arrested and told that they would be taken to the soldiers’ checkpoint. Civilian 65 noted that some of the soldiers were Liberian and some Sierra Leonean.
The witness described how people were beaten at the checkpoint and that he got to know a man called Angel Gabriel: “He was the commander at the time that was giving the orders, he said ‘kill them, tell them that I Angel Gibril sent them to God’”. According to Civilian 65, the soldiers’ checkpoint was at New Bridge in Waterside. The soldiers took some women into a building, Civilian 65 could hear them being raped. Angel Gabriel then gave an order and said that he would be sending the people to God. Civilian 65 recalled that he was wearing a white t-shirt, a cap and “Liberian army trousers”. Then, the witness explained that a pickup with soldiers came onto the scene.
Civilian 65 also explained that he had been arrested at the store with a girl that he knew, Civilian 75. He described how a friend of Civilian 75’s aunt recognized her from the pickup, shouted Civilian 75’s name and asked what the people were doing there. When they said that they had been arrested, the woman from the pickup took them away and “saved their lives”.
The witness located the store by saying that taking the road from the Liberia Electricity Company, it was the third store. Looking from the bridge where the checkpoint was, the store is on the right side of the road. He was not sure how far the store was from the bridge, but said that maybe it was the third one. The bridge where the checkpoint was located was called Old Bridge during the war. However, he could not remember the names of the people that were with him when he was going to the store. He could not remember how many people were shot inside the store as the situation was “crazy”, but estimated that it was more than 10 people. He further elaborated on the checkpoint: when going from Waterside towards the bridge, the witness said that the checkpoint was located by the bridge and that there was a small, unfinished “upstairs building”. The women were taken inside this particular building and Civilian 65 could hear them being raped inside. According to Civilian 65, when Angel Gabriel ordered to kill people, he meant the civilians as they were allegedly bringing food to the enemy. He was speaking English, but in a different manner. Civilian 65 explained: “we Africans know when a Ghanaian and Sierra Leonean man is talking”. Angel Gabriel was speaking like a Sierra Leonean.
Civilian 65 was asked if he knew the name of anyone who may have been killed at the biscuit store or at the checkpoint. He mentioned the name of one “big brother” called [REDACTED]. The pickup that arrived with the woman who knew Civilian 75’s aunt was full of soldiers. Civilian 65 could not identify any of the soldiers or commanders. He stated: “The name I know is Gibril Massaquoi. He will knock his chest and say I Angel Gabriel sent you”. Civilian 65 also testified that the crisis in Liberia was called World Wars I, II and III. The incident in Waterside happened during World War I, in 2001. He stated that when he met with the Finnish police for the first time, he had not heard or read any news that Angel Gabriel had been detained in Finland.
The defense questions Civilian 65
The defense began by asking whether Civilian 65 had heard about Gibril Massaquoi’s arrest and detention, as it took place over six months before Civilian 65 met with the Finnish police and was widely reported. Civilian 65 confirmed that he had not.
Next, the defense pointed out that Civilian 65 was part of a group of witnesses who had placed the events in the years 2000 to 2002 and a lot of them incorrectly claimed that World War I was in 2001, World War II in 2002 and World War III in 2003. They asked if he could explain why this was so, and Civilian 65 stated that he cannot speak for others and that it’s not easy to remember things when you are seeing corpses.
Civilian 65 testified that he heard the commander use both names, Angel Gabriel and Gabriel Massaquoi at the same time during the events. The defense pointed out that Civilian 65 had not used the name Gabriel Massaquoi in the police interview or in lower court. Civilian 65 answered that he had not “matured” by then and the name was not something that’s easy to recall. Civilian 65 denied that he heard the name Gibril Massaquoi only later. Civilian 65 described Angel Gabriel’s clothes as camouflage trousers, a white shirt, and a cap. He stated that the trousers were the same that the Liberian army used, but that the shirt was not. When the defense pointed out that Civilian 65 had told the police that the man had a Liberian uniform, he repeated that the trousers were from the Liberian uniform.
Next, Civilian 65 repeated that he had not heard the names of any other soldiers and only heard the name of the commander giving orders, Angel Gabriel. He had a pistol, which according to Civilian 65 describes how wicked he is. Civilian 65 knew one person who was killed at the scene, the big brother called [REDACTED]. He did not know any other name for him. When asked if he knew of a man called [REDACTED], he responded that they had not been in contact after the event in Waterside.
The witness explained the Sierra Leonean accent that Angel Gabriel spoke with. The defense pointed out that in the lower court, Civilian 65 had mentioned that the man spoke with a British accent and sounded like a Sierra Leonean. The witness agreed, saying that since Sierra Leone was a British colony, they speak in a similar way. Civilian 65 had heard of similar incidents, where people had been shot in Waterside, but he had not witnessed them. He stated that such events were talked about after the war, but he could not say that everybody in the country would have known about them.
Finally, the court asked Civilian 65 to clarify what happened when Angel Gabriel gave the order to kill people at the checkpoint. Civilian 65 responded that the soldiers shot people, and he saw bodies, and that [REDACTED] was killed there. He clarified that the shooting began before the pickup arrived and continued after it got to the scene. According to Civilian 65, World War I took place in 2001, World War II in 2002 and World War III in 2003.
