February 15, 2023 [Liberia] Day 14: Shooting in a store
[editor’s note: for the sake of clarity, some details about the testimonies are explained in brackets]
Witness Civilian 68 is heard
The prosecution questions Civilian 68
The prosecution began by asking about Civilian 68’s wartime experiences in Monrovia. Civilian 68 testified that she used to come to Monrovia to buy used clothes from Waterside during World Wars I and II. The witness testified that she had gone to Waterside to buy clothes. She went to her usual store and saw some people going towards the bridge and other people under the bridge. She saw a “group of soldier boys” and another man standing to the side of the area under the bridge. As she entered the store, she saw soldiers taking girls and bringing them to a building. She was very scared and began to turn back, when soldiers came, grabbed two boys and took them under the bridge. There was a man standing there wearing army trousers and a white shirt. This man shot one of the boys, raised his gun and shot the air saying: “I am Angel Gabriel, when you go to God, tell God I sent you”. He then killed the other boy.
According to Civilian 68, this man was not Liberian as he spoke like a Sierra Leonean. She explained that as she turned around, a man come towards her, saying that his name was Small Soldier. He hit her on the head with his gun, she fell to the ground and he demanded she give him her money. After she had fallen, some other boys took her to a pharmacy on Coleman Hill, where she was treated. According to the witness, “the soldier boys said they will come back for us.” She managed to escape, and saw soldiers putting people on pickup trucks and taking them away. She didn’t know where they were being taken. Civilian 68 left Monrovia after this incident and didn’t return until after the war.
The witness could not estimate how long it took after World War II for peace to arrive. The bridge she had described with people underneath it was called Old Bridge and went towards Slipway. There was a biscuit store near the bridge. Civilian 68 explained that she was not captured by the soldiers but they captured others who they raped and did horrible things to. The soldier who confronted her only wanted her money.
Civilian 68 was asked to describe where the biscuit store was located. She stated that it was located on the right when looking from Old Bridge towards Waterside. It was “not that far” from the bridge. When she saw people being taken under the bridge, she had just gotten out of the car coming from Sinkor. She was quite far from the biscuit store, but was near the bridge and could see under it.
The witness confirmed that she had seen Angel Gabriel shoot one of the boys with her own eyes. As Angel Gabriel shot, he said that he would send the people to God and turned around to look at the group of people behind him. Civilian 68 did not know the name of the boy who was shot. Angel Gabriel killed both of the boys by shooting them with a pistol and had said that he sent them to God.
She also described the wound she had gotten from the soldier who hit her in the head and showed it to the court. According to the witness, the boys who took her to the pharmacy were the ones from the store where she was going to do her shopping. She did not know their names. She was shopping that day with her friend. Her friend also fell but otherwise did not suffer any injuries.
Civilian 68 had not heard any news about someone being arrested in Finland in relation to the events in Waterside. She had only discussed the events in a car. She was in a car on her way back from Waterside with a man who was discussing what happened there in 2002 and 2003, who said that people were coming to Liberia because of these events. He then asked the other passengers if they knew anything about them. The witness showed him her scar and told him that she was there. This man then gave Civilian 68’s phone number to Employee 1. Two days later, Employee 1 called her and asked if she was present in Waterside during these events. Employee 1 came to meet her. She tried to ask what this all was about, but he would not tell her. He only asked if she could tell her experience to others who might want to ask her but wouldn’t give her any more details than that.
The defense questions Civilian 68
The defense began by asking Civilian 68 how long after meeting Employee 1 she met with the Finnish police. She estimated that it took 1 or 2 months before he called her again to say that the people were coming. She could not tell where exactly the two boys that were killed under the bridge had been shot, she only saw Angel Gabriel kill them. She estimated that she was quite close to the boys when they were shot, she was on a hill by the checkpoint, and could see directly under the bridge.
Civilian 68 had heard different names for soldiers in addition to Angel Gabriel, such as Quick to Kill and Small Soldier. She explained that the soldiers called each other these names as they were capturing people. She did not hear any other soldier besides Angel Gabriel introduce himself. The witness heard Angel Gabriel’s name as he said it out loud when he killed the two boys, he did not introduce himself to her personally. She did not hear any other name being used for him. The defense referred to her police interview, where the witness had said that others called him Gibril Massaquoi and Angel Michael, which she confirmed. She explained that the people who called him Gibril Massaquoi were those who knew him personally, and other people in the crowd. She described that when he killed, called himself Angel Michael, and people said his real name was Gibril Massaquoi. The witness confirmed that she heard him call himself Angel Michael.
Civilian 68 had also mentioned the name Zigzag Marzah. She explained that she was unsure of this name, thinking that Zigzag Marzah was Gibril Massaquoi, but that this was a mistake as they are not the same person. According to Civilian 68, the only time she had spoken about the events was when she was in the car with [REDACTED] on the way back from Waterside. In the lower court, she had also said that she had spoken about the events with her friends who had commented on her scar, which she confirmed.
Next, there was more lengthy discussion as to the names used by the man who killed the two boys. The witness said that he used the name Angel Gabriel and said that she had never said Angel Michael. The defense played an audio clip of her police interview where she had used the name Angel Michael. The witness explained that she had said that the man used the name Angel Michael, but she then corrected herself and used the name Angel Gabriel. The recording was played once more and no further questions were asked on this issue.
Civilian 68 further testified that she was not far from Angel Gabriel when she saw the killings take place. She was by the checkpoint and could see the bridge ahead. The people she saw were under the bridge, a little bit to the side. The witness was also asked about the timing of the events. She said that it took place during World Wars I-III, so between 2001 and 2003. The defense referred to the police interview, where she had said that the incident took place in January or February 2001, during World War I. Civilian 68 answered that she had indeed said that the incident took place during World Wars I and II. When the same question was repeated, she testified that that it must have been a mistake. The defense referred also to the lower court’s judgment, where she had testified that the incident took place in the middle of 2001. Civilian 68 confirmed that the incident took place in the middle of the year, in June, as she had come to do shopping for July 26. Finally, the witness testified that World War I took place in 2001, World War II in 2002 and World War III in 2003.
It was pointed out that the witness identified the defendant as Angel Gabriel from the series of photographs presented to her at her police interview.
Witness Civilian 62 is heard
The prosecution questions Civilian 62
The prosecution began by asking Civilian 62 about an incident where he was captured by soldiers in Waterside. The witness testified that he was fourteen years old at the time. His older brother used to sell food in Waterside. He had given the witness money to buy rice. When he got to the rice store, he realized that he had lost the money. As he was standing there working out what to do, he heard the noise of a store being broken into. Everyone around him started running to the store to get food, as there was a shortage at the time. The witness also went into the store to get rice, as he could not return to his brother empty-handed. As he entered, the store was full of people grabbing different things such as biscuits. Civilian 62 took one of the remaining rice bags and a person next to him started to fight him for it. While they were in the middle of the store, they saw three vehicles arrive. A man jumped out of the vehicle and gave an order to “shoot anybody coming out with food”.
According to Civilian 62, the soldiers lined up in front of the store and opened fire. They continued firing for approximately three and half minutes. The witness hid behind the rice bag that he and the other guy had been fighting over. After the firing stopped, the man outside ordered the soldiers to go and check inside the store. He ordered: “anybody you see alive, bring them outside”. The soldiers began inspecting the store and the bodies on the ground. Civilian 62 was captured from the store. As the soldiers were taking people outside, he saw his older brother who had given him the money to buy the rice being taken outside by the soldiers. There were also elderly people, women with children on their backs, young boys and girls present in the store. The soldiers told the people to put their hands behind their backs and to get into vehicles. One person tried to resist, but “this guy” took his pistol and shot him. This made everyone else hurry to the vehicles. The young children and the woman with a baby in her back were put in a different vehicle. Then the commander, the man who had given the order to fire, ordered to take the people away and said “tell them that I, Angel Gabriel, sent them”.
According to the witness, the car with the women and children was told to drive to Old Bridge. Civilian 62 stopped in front of an unfinished house, where they were ordered out of the car. They entered the building and sat on the ground. As they were sitting there, the commander told his men that they could take any one of the girls and “have fun with them”, and that he would take one himself. A girl that was sat next to Civilian 62 started to cry and resist and the commander took a pistol and shot her dead. She fell to Civilian 62’s lap. The witness testified that he was shaking with fear, as this was the first time someone had fallen dead into his arms. The same man walked up to the witness and asked if he wanted to see God: “I started shivering, and I told him no”. The girls were taken away, one girl was still shouting and fighting the soldiers. She was taken away and Civilian 62 could hear a gunshot. He testified that he does not know what happened to the girl, but after that he did not hear any more shouting.
Civilian 62 further testified that he asked one of the girls next to him why the man was called Angel Gabriel, “because he is not doing anything that represents God”. The girl explained that Angel Gabriel’s real name is Gibril Massaquoi, he thinks of himself as the messenger of death, and “when he says you will die today and go see your Father, no one else will stop you, you will be killed, if he says you will be killed today, just say your last prayer, because he calls himself Angel Gabriel”. The girl also mentioned the names of other people present, saying that one person’s war name was Superman whose his real name was Zigzag Massaquoi, and General Mosquito, whose real name was Sam or Bockarie or Sam Bockarie. The girl then explained to Civilian 62 how soldiers would sometimes break into stores and as women would run into them to get food, the soldiers would get them.
The witness then described that there was another girl there, who said that she knew this Zigzag Massaquoi man. According to the witness, she was in great pain, and they were from the same area, so she wanted to say things that he would remember. She called him by his name Massaquoi and said: “People that you can call your mother, your daughters, your sisters, people are raping them all in the name of you fighting war?”. According to Civilian 62, Angel Gabriel came and told her to “shut up” and began to take his gun. This is how Zigzag Massaquoi / Superman knew that he knew this girl and the two soldiers began to struggle. Both were wearing a Liberian uniform. According to Civilian 62 they were fighting because any time Angel Gabriel would take his gun into his hands, someone would die. As the two men were fighting, the witness heard a car outside. A man came with a “full uniform” who started to ask the two men what they were doing and why they had brought children there, exclaiming : “This was not the reason I brought you here, I brought you people here to fight the war, and not to kill innocent people”. He began to inspect the building and saw the dead body of the girl. He started shouting that this was not the reason he had brought them there, for killing innocent people, and told Civilian 62 and others to go away. As the witness made it out of the building, he heard people using the name Chief Fifty, but he did not know his real name.
Civilian 62 was asked about his older brother, he confirmed that it was his biological brother. According to the witness, the store that was broken into was in Waterside, not too far from Old Bridge, about two and half minutes walking distance. When looking from Old Bridge, the store was located in the middle of an intersection. He testified that the man who stepped out of the vehicle at the store was Gibril Massaquoi and his war name was Angel Gabriel: he used the name Angel Gabriel, and the girl had told him that his name is Gibril Massaquoi.
According to Civilian 62, the soldiers were in front of the store and shooting inside of it. Many people died as a result. He stated that he was surprised to see his brother, as he had left him earlier when he had given him money. He described how his brother was put on a pickup and taken away. Angel Gabriel said that the people should say that he had sent them. Civilian 62 testified that he has not seen his brother since.
The witness stated the man who killed the person who was resisting at the store was the commander, Angel Gabriel. Civilian 62 saw him kill the man with his own eyes. The same man was giving orders at the building by the bridge. The witness did not know the girl whose dead body fell into his lap. The other girl next to him was called [REDACTED], she knew the names of the soldiers as she did business in Waterside at the time. Both of them were there until Fifty came and “started blasting to free us”. At the time of this incident, there was fighting ongoing against LURD rebels. The witness explained that the fighting was behind Duala around the Bong Mines Bridge leading to Brewersville and that there was not heavy shooting in the city. According to Civilian 62, after this incident there was still fighting ongoing. LURD would come and attack. This incident took place in 2001.
Civilian 62 stated that Angel Gabriel was not Liberian, which he knew from his accent, which was Sierra Leonean. He had not heard any news about someone being arrested in Finland in relation to the Waterside events before his interview with the Finnish police.
The defense questions Civilian 62
The defense began by asking about the other soldiers whose names were told to the witness by the girl under the bridge. Civilian 62 testified that Superman, aka Zigzag Massaquoi and General Mosquito, aka Sam Bockarie were with Angel Gabriel at the store, but he only found out their names from the girl under the bridge. According to Civilian 62, the girl was also at the store, they were both inside when the shooting began. Zigzag Massaquoi took orders from Angel Gabriel at the store. All three of them were together. He did not hear Sam Bockarie say anything, as Angel Gabriel was the one giving orders. As Civilian 62 and the others were taken from the store to the bridge, these three soldiers were together in a different car. The only time Civilian 62 heard Zigzag Massaquoi speak was when the girl next to him started talking about the killing and raping of innocent people. According to Civilian 62, Zigzag Massaquoi thought the girl was referring to him, so when Angel Gabriel took out his gun, Zigzag started to defend he as he was also Liberian. All soldiers present were wearing a Liberian uniform, but a conflict ensued between those supporting Zigzag Massaquoi and those supporting the other group.
Civilian 62 testified that the uniform the soldiers were wearing was the ATU uniform at the time. It had the colors of the Liberian flag in the sleeve. The uniforms had a collar, it was colored in “army color”, with green, brown and other colors.
The witness was also asked how the Finnish police had contacted him. He testified that he was reached via his friend who he thinks is Civilian 05. He was watching a football match at a video club, when people starting talking about commanders and other people who took part in the civil war. One person said ‘let bygones be bygones’, and another said ‘whatever you do, you have to pay for it’. Civilian 62 joined the conversation and recalled his experience, saying that ‘if you had experienced war, you would never say that someone should get away with it’. Civilian 05, who was listening to the conversation, approached him. He asked him if his story was true and then asked for his phone number. He then said that people will be in contact. Civilian 05 did not call him afterwards and had not mentioned that someone was a suspect in a case about the events. He took his number and said that he would get a call from somebody because he himself couldn’t talk about such things. A few days later, Employee 1 called and told Civilian 62 that someone gave him his number. Employee 1 told him that he was the best person to talk about something to people that were coming to discuss these issues. After a while, Employee 1 called Civilian 62 again to tell him that the people had arrived and he should come and talk about his experience.
The witness testified that Employee 1 did not tell him the name of the suspect and that he had not heard the suspect’s name anywhere when he came to meet the Finnish police. When he was explaining his story at the video club, he had mentioned the names Gibril Massaquoi and Angel Gabriel, which sparked Civilian 05’s interest. The defense referred to Civilian 62’s police interview, where he had told the police that Civilian 05 had called him and told him that the Waterside suspect was Gabriel Massaquoi. Civilian 62 denied saying this. The defense then played an audio recording of his interview multiple times, as it was not entirely clear. Finally, Civilian 62 responded that at the video club, he had mentioned the name Angel Gabriel and Civilian 05 had mentioned the name Gibril Massaquoi, but that did not mean that he had not heard it before.
Finally, Civilian 62 testified that the incident took place in 2001. He denied knowing Civilian 69, despite the the fact that the police reported to have contacted Civilian 69 through him, and that Civilian 69 spoke of a friend with the same name as him. The witness responded that many people have the same name. He also stated that the man called Zigzag Massaquoi spoke like a Liberian.
It was pointed out that the witness identified the defendant as Angel Gabriel from the series of photographs presented to him at his police interview.
Witness Civilian 61 is heard
The prosecution questions Civilian 61
The prosecution began by asking Civilian 61 about an incident where soldiers captured her in Monrovia. The witness testified that during the war, she lived in Paynesville and did business buying and selling goods. One day, her and her friends went to Waterside market to make purchases. Her usual shopping spot was closed. Her friends told her that soldiers had broken into a store and were selling things from there, so the witness, her sister and some other women decided to go there. As they arrived, there was a big crowd of armed men and other people going in and out and out of the store, bringing out different things. As they were entering the store, a pickup came and soldiers got out. Another pickup arrived came, a man stepped out and gave an order to fire. The men started shooting in the air and Civilian 61 and her friends ran away. The men began to shoot at people and people were hit, including Civilian 61’s sister. When she went to help her, she was already dead. There was a large group of armed men shooting randomly all over the place, and another pick up arrived. The situation was chaotic, and Civilian 61 and others was captured.
As they were captured, another group of men took them under a bridge. There was a small house under the bridge, where people were raped and killed. Civilian 61 testified that she saw the same commander and his men who had been by the store. There was also another group of soldiers, the commander told his men that the people that had been captured should be taken away and that they should tell God that Angel Gabriel sent them. Many people were killed there. Then, she saw a boy she knew and started crying. The boy asked her what she was doing there and Civilian 61 answered that she came to do shopping. The boy took her with him towards West Point and told her to run.
Civilian 61 testified that the store was located on the right coming from Freeport and on the left when coming from Sinkor. Many people died during the shooting at the store, but she could not count them at the time. The man who gave the order to fire spoke like a Sierra Leonean. Liberians and some other people called him Angel Gabriel and he was also called Gibril Massaquoi. He was standing on the pickup and gave the order. The witness heard the names Angel Gabriel and Gibril Massaquoi under the bridge, when he was killing people. He had said “when you go meet God, tell him that I, Angel Gabriel, sent you”. The witness repeated that people were killed and raped under the bridge. Some were taken aside, and some were taken into the house.
The witness described how she was first taken under the bridge and as the soldiers were told to escort the people that had been captured, she recognized one of the boys and he helped her. She explained that she was not taken inside the house, but she saw people being taken there. She could not estimate the distance of the house from the bridge, but said that it was not far from the bridge or the store.
According to Civilian 61, she saw the same commander under the bridge whom she had seen at the store. He was giving orders when she got there. He said that “when you meet God, tell him that Angel Gabriel sent you”. She testified that the commander used the name Angel Gabriel himself and she heard his soldiers call him Gibril Massaquoi. He was wearing “soldier trousers” and a white shirt. She described how most of the soldiers who were with Angel Gabriel spoke similarly to him, in ‘Sierra Leonean’ or ‘Nigerian’. Some of them were also speaking like Liberians.
Civilian 61 testified that the war was called World Wars I, II and III Government forces were fighting LURD and sometimes LURD would come and attack, then they would leave and things would go back to normal before the next attack. The fighting was ongoing in Duala, almost in Monrovia. She explained that she was not in the area when the war ended as she left for Nimba after the incident, only returning after the war. The war did not continue for long after these events. The witness speculated that the bridge was called Waterside Bridge and Old Bridge at the time.
Civilian 61 testified that she had heard about someone being arrested by the Finnish police in relation to the Waterside events before her police interview. The father of the children called her and said that there had been a discussion at a tea shop about the events in Waterside. He had met a man there and told him that his wife had been involved as a victim. He gave the man Civilian 61’s number. A few days after, Employee 1 called Civilian 61 and told her that the Waterside incident is connected to Finland. He said that people were on their way to investigate the matter and asked if Civilian 61 would like to speak with her. The witness then added “I don’t like to talk about it. It reminds me of my sister every time”. She confirmed that Employee 1 did not mention any details about the matter. She also confirmed that her sister who died in Waterside was her biological sister, and that had not heard any news about the arrest before that phone call.
The defense questions Civilian 61
The defense first asked whether Civilian 61 had heard the names of other soldiers at the scene besides Angel Gabriel. The witness could name Black Jesus but said she couldn’t really remember. She stated that she would not be able to recognize Black Jesus, that this name was mentioned at the time. She named one of the friends that she was with at Waterside. She could not recall the names of the other women, or of the boy who saved her at the bridge. The defense referred to her police interview, where she had said that this man’s name was [REDACTED], who she had dated previously. The witness confirmed this name and testified that she dated him a long time ago.
Civilian 61 was also asked if she had given the contact information for any other witnesses to the police. She testified that she mentioned the name of [REDACTED] when she was asked about this issue earlier. The Finnish police had reported that Civilian 61 had given Civilian 73’s contact information, but she said that she could not remember this person. The witness stated that she met Employee 1 when the police arrived. After he had called her, it took some time before the police interview. The defense referred to Employee 1’s notebook, where the year 2003 had been written next to Civilian 61’s name and asked her if she had spoken of this year with Employee 1. She responded that this is something that they should ask Employee 1 himself. The defense also asked about the fact that the year appears to have been altered into 2001 in the notebook, she repeated that they should ask Employee 1 about it.
Finally, Civilian 61 explained that when she spoke of the soldiers escorting her and others, it means that they were being escorted to death: “It means to kill people”.
It was pointed out that the witness identified the defendant as Angel Gabriel from the series of photographs presented to her at her police interview.
