February 13, 2023 [Liberia] Day 12: Three witnesses and a biscuit store
Witness Civilian 05 is heard
The prosecution questions Civilian 05
The prosecution began their questioning by asking Civilian 05 about an incident where soldiers captured him in Monrovia. Civilian 05 was living at ELWA junction, Monrovia and he was 14 or 15 years old at the time. The incident happened in 2001 and Civilian 5 is now 34 years old. He sold biscuits, candy, and fruit for a living, but it was difficult to retrieve the goods to sell, and his friends told him they were going to show him where they got their stock. They all went to the market in Waterside. They saw a lot of people standing, the stores were closed so they were waiting for them to open. There were both civilians and people with guns present. Civilian 05’s friends told him that they would usually put their money together and give it to the soldiers to open the shop. As they did, the soldiers said to hurry, as their boss could come at any time and “it wasn’t the right what they were doing.”
As they came out of the shop, after they grabbed what they could find, they heard a gunshot. They saw a pickup parked outside, Civilian 05’s friends were shot and lying on the ground. As the soldiers’ superiors had arrived, the soldiers started arresting the civilians for breaking into the shop, as to not be involved in the entering. The witness was arrested as well, and they were all forced to sit on the ground. A man asked why these people were allowed to enter and, according to Civilian 05, a soldier said that while they were on the other side of the road, they saw the people entering the store. Civilian 05 noticed that the man who asked the question was called a “boss man”. He ordered to bring him a stone, which had a “bruise mark” and blood on it. The commander took one girl from the crowd and ordered to put her head on the stone. He told Civilian 05 and others to watch what he was doing. According to Civilian 05, “it was the first time for me to see someone being killed in front of my eyes. […] I wasn’t myself when the blood was spurting out.” He cut the girl’s throat with a knife, and he said: “when you go to Heaven, tell God, I, Angel Gabriel sent you.”
Civilian 05 testified that right after the girl got murdered, a group of men arrived on a vehicle. They asked after the people that had been detained and told the soldiers that they had to be released, so they were accompanied towards Twelve Houses at ELWA junction. They were taken through a gate to a building and were put in a room. There were other people already there when they arrived. There was no way out: there was a guard who came inside the room to check on them. Civilian 05 recognised the guard and got his attention. The guard asked Civilian 05 what he was doing there and said that “this is not a good place to be.” Civilian 05 explained what had happened and asked him for help. The guard opened the gate and told them to leave, to get away and instructed them not to go to ELWA junction.
Asked by the prosecution, Civilian 05 described both the location of the building and its structure. He specified that it was where the “boss man” Angel Gabriel, operated from. According to Civilian 05, people were killed during the shooting at the store. Civilian 05 could not remember the names of his friends who were killed that day. The girl’s throat was cut at the place where they had been arrested, adjacent to the store, right next to the yellow building. It was “the boss man himself, Angel Gabriel”, who took the girl from the crowd, and who personally cut the girl’s throat with the knife – Civilian 05 saw it himself. Civilian 05 reiterated that the soldiers who had opened the shop pretended they hadn’t and started shooting when they saw “their boss coming”. Civilian 05 testified that he heard the name Angel Gabriel in Waterside as Angel Gabriel introduced himself when they got arrested and right before the girl was picked from the crowd. The witness specified that Angel Gabriel was a part of the Liberian troops, but he was not himself Liberian and that he spoke like a Sierra Leonean person. Civilian 05 only saw Angel Gabriel in Waterside.
When asked who the man on the pick-up track was, which arrived just after the girl’s murder, the witness said that it was “Chief 50”, a Liberian commander whose name was Benjamin Yeaten, but was commonly known as 50.
At the time of these events, there were battles ongoing in Monrovia. They were called World Wars I, II and III. Civilian 05 testified that after he had been captured at the store, the battles were still ongoing for a long time. According to the witness, this incident took place during World War I, which took place in 2001. World War II was in 2002 and World War III in 2003. The events took place outside the holiday season, but a holiday, such as the Independence Day on 26 July, was approaching. Civilian 05 described the building they were taken to on Twelve Houses Road as a large building with a fence. He could not tell if the building had a particular name, it was in the Twelve Houses Road community.
The defense questions Civilian 05
Asked by the defense, Civilian 05 explained that the store where the incident took place is still in operation, as people sell various goods, such as biscuits and slippers, and that what he had only been there that once, as he usually bought goods somewhere else.. The whole incident lasted one day. The defense pointed out that in the pre-trial investigation report, Civilian 05 is recorded as saying that there were a group of people at the store, with some in uniform and others without. Because of this they did not go to the store and returned after two days. Civilian 05 said that there had been some misunderstanding: the information about the uniforms was correct, but he could not remember going back only after two days. Civilian 05 testified that he was taken to a building from the store. There was a checkpoint at Waterside that had been marked with a rope. Civilian 05 confirmed that he heard Angel Gabriel’s name from the man himself, who said it before killing the girl. Nobody else used the name Angel Gabriel at the scene, the soldiers called him their boss.
The defense pointed out that in the lower court’s judgment it had been recorded that Civilian 05 had said that he had been under a bridge, when a man guarding them had felt sorry for them and said the name Angel Gabriel. Civilian 05 responded that maybe he had been misunderstood: Angel Gabriel had said his name out loud himself when they were under the bridge, they used to throw bodies there. Civilian 05 also testified that the girl being killed was the only time he saw Angel Gabriel kill someone.
The defense referred to the lower court’s judgement, where Civilian 05 had been recorded saying that there was a man next to him, who was taken from the crowd by soldiers. This was the first time he had seen a person being taken from next to him. Soldiers took this man and laid his head on the stone and said to the people that they are going to do the same to them. Civilian 05 had closed his eyes for being too scared and when he opened his eyes, he saw that the man was “shaking”. Civilian 05 confirmed this had in fact taken place and the man had died. Civilian 05 however confirmed that he had seen two people being killed, a man and a woman. He added that he also saw other people being killed during the shooting as well, but he had not seen Angel Gabriel slit anyone else’s throat besides the incident in Waterside. He confirmed that these two people, the man and the woman were the only ones he saw being killed by Angel Gabriel personally. The defense then pointed to the police interview, where Civilian 05 had said that Angel was using something like a chair as a cutting board, he slit the throats of two men and let their blood flow into a bowl. Civilian 05 confirmed this, saying that the defense attorney was reminding him as the events had happened a long time ago. Civilian 05 testified that he saw two persons’ throats being slit, they were a man and a woman. He did not see two men being killed by Angel Gabriel, and he added that the murders of the man and the woman “happened at the same time, so you can’t count it as two times.”
Civilian 05 testified further that he could not remember the nicknames of his friends that were killed at the store or the names of people who were arrested together with him. The defense referred to the police investigation, where Civilian 05 had told that he stayed in the area for one day and night. His friend, whose brother was a soldier, arrived there and asked to see Civilian 05, who was brought outside. The name of Civilian 05’s friend was [redacted]. Civilian 05 confirmed this. Civilian 05 was not aware what had happened to his friend as everyone went on their own way after the events.
Asked by the defense, the witness described how the Finnish police knew he had information on the events. He had been talking about sports with a group of people in a tea shop when someone started talking about the war and Waterside. The witness said “oh my gosh, I was there and I was hurt there” and after discussing with the others and leaving the place, someone approached him and asked him for his phone number as people would want to talk to him. The next day he received a phone call and told him that people would be interested in what he had said regarding the incident. The same person who had called him took him to the Finnish police. Civilian 05 had not discussed the year of the incident with anyone before talking to the Finnish police.
The defense referred to the lower court’s judgment, where it had been recorded that when Civilian 05 was discussing the events in the tea shop, someone had mentioned the year 2003, to which Civilian 05 had responded that what had happened to him took place in 2001. The witness explained that he could not remember what exactly had being discussed, but he rememebers that what happened to him took place in 2001, which is what he told to the Finnish police. The defense referred to the police interview, where Civilian 05 had mentioned that the events took place in 2003. Civilian 05 testified that he had told the police the same thing as in court today, i.e., World War I was in 2001, World War II in 2002 and World War III in 2003 and that what happened to him happened in 2001. In explaining the confusion about the year, Civilian 05 said that: “like in your life, a major occasion in your life you can forget, but after people can remind you and you can remember.”
There was some additional discussion going back and forth about the timing of the events and what Civilian 05 had told the Finnish police in the two different interviews. He insisted that the wars took place in 2001, 2002 and 2003 respectively and that the events in Waterside took place in 2001. The defense mentioned that an expert witness had said that the events took place in 2003, but Civilian 05 reiterated that what happened to him took place in 2001. Civilian 05 confirmed that he did not know what happened to [REDACTED] in Waterside and he was not aware of his fate. The defense referred to the recording of Civilian 05’s police investigation interview, where he had said “[REDACTED] did not survive and I have not seen [him] since then.” The witness answered that “if the man doesn’t survive, how can you see him afterwards? I haven’t seen him I don’t know where he is.”
The police had also written in their report that Civilian 05’s friend had given his contact information to Employee 1. Civilian 05 testified that someone took his number, but he did not know this person’s name as they did not introduce themselves.
Civilian 05 testified that he does not know any other witnesses in the case and had not given the Finnish police anyone else’s contact information. However, the police investigation report stated that Civilian 05 had been told by the police that multiple witnesses had told them that Civilian 05 had called them. Civilian 05 denied this, saying that he would tell the court if this was true, and that he had not contacted anyone. if something would come back to him, but this one was not true. The defense further pointed out to the police investigation report, where Civilian 62 and Civilian 72 were mentioned as having been found via Civilian 05. Civilian 05 confirmed this, saying that they were from the meeting at the tea shop [gathering mentioned earlier]. He had not told them the name of the suspect.
Asked if he had known of similar looting events, Civilian 05 stated that he had heard about looting incidents at Red Light and Waterside – but he personally only witnessed to the one in Waterside. Civilian 05 testified that he had moved away from Monrovia in 2005, and that before that he had lived at ELWA Junction. According to him, peace in Liberia took place either in 2003 or 2004.
Witness Civilian 73 is heard
The prosecution questions Civilian 73
The prosecution began their questioning by asking Civilian 73 about an incident, where soldiers captured her in Monrovia. She was either 15 or 16 years old at the time and was living in Monrovia. She used to buy and sell fish with a friend, and had gone to Waterside to look for produce. There, they heard noise and a group of people started shouting and running everywhere. The whole Waterside was “upside down”, they heard gunshots and wanted to get away. As they were trying to find a vehicle to escape with, they saw armed soldiers on a pickup truck. These soldiers then descended the truck and started putting people in the pickup, including Civilian 73 and her friend, saying “you people are LURD rebels.” There were both elderly and young people, everyone was crying. They were brought under the Waterside bridge, and other people were taken towards West Point.
Under the bridge, there were people, also crying. She asked the people why they were crying and was told to shut up. An older man was sitting next to Civilian 73, and a soldier hit him in the eye with the butt of his gun. The man started bleeding, so the witness and others started crying and they were told that “if we messed with them, they would kill us all”. Civilian 73 testified that one man stood up and he had guards around him. The only thing Civilian 73 heard him say was “I am Angel Gabriel. I’m the one who people pass through to go to God.” According to Civilian 73, it was difficult to look at him, as soldiers would hit you in the face if you did so and told you to keep your head down. Civilian 73 testified further that at the bridge there was a “long house.” If a person was unlucky, they would be taken into this house to be raped – the witness could hear crying and calls for help coming from the house. Civilian 73 started crying and calling for help as she was being beaten. A man arrived – he appeared to be higher ranking than the other soldiers present – and started asking what those people were doing there. Angel Gabriel started apologizing to this new higher ranking soldier and ordered to release the captured people. As his attention was on the superior officer, the witness’ friend took her hand and they fled the scene.
The prosecution followed up with a few questions, and Civilian 73 specified that her friend was Civilian 61. They were close to the biscuit store when they were arrested, in Waterside. Civilian 73 confirmed that when they heard gunshots, soldiers were shooting around, both in the air and around them. She had not seen anyone being hit personally, besides the older man wounded under the bridge. The witness said the soldier’s leader called himself Angel Gabriel, and was also called that by his men, as well as chief, and boss. According to Civilian 73, he was speaking English with a Sierra Leonean accent. He was wearing cap and camouflage trousers and had a gun.
Civilian 73 did not know who the higher ranking man who arrived later was, but she understood he was the most senior, and that he was angry. She did not pay attention what accent he had.
According to Civilian 73, battles, “real war” was ongoing in Monrovia at the time of the incident, but she could not remember how long after that peace came.
The defense questions Civilian 73
The defense began their questioning by asking Civilian 73 to repeat her friend’s name. According to Civilian 73, she went to Waterside that day with Civilian 61 only. The defense asked her if she knew anyone by the name [REDACTED], and the witness responded in the negative. The defense then referred to the lower court’s judgment, where Civilian 73 had said that Civilian 61 was not with her that day and in fact the only person with her was her business partner [REDACTED]. Civilian 73 answered that maybe she had forgotten something, one cannot remember everything, but she confirmed that Civilian 61 was with her under the bridge. They took the same car to Waterside and once there they were all put in the same car and taken under the bridge. The defense pointed out that according to the lower court’s judgment, Civilian 73 could not remember Civilian 61 being with her under the bridge. She had told the police that Civilian 61 was there, but in lower court she said that she could not remember such a thing. Civilian 73 said that “even the wisest of us are capable of forgetting things.”
Asked further about [REDACTED], the witness said she might have mentioned her in the police interview. Civilian 73 said that she remembers such a name: “When we were under the bridge when they caught us, we all were crying, I can remember that name. Not everything you can recall.” Civilian 73 mentioned that a girl next to her under the bridge mentioned this name as people were taken to be raped inside the building. The girl next to Civilian 73 was calling [REDACTED], so according to Civilian 73, [REDACTED] was taken to be raped.
The defense referred to the police interview, where Civilian 73 had said that the man was called by the soldiers chief and boss man, but she had not mentioned that the man was called Angel Gabriel. Civilian 73 explained that the soldiers called him boss and said “yes, chief” and the man was calling himself Angel Gabriel. She also said that the soldiers were using the name Angel Gabriel. “For instance, I’m doing something and boasting, and the bodyguards will say Chief, chef chief, Angel Gabriel!” Civilian 73 did not hear the names of other soldiers.
Civilian 73 said that she did not see Angel Gabriel’s face, as soldiers were preventing it. She saw that Angel Gabriel was wearing a cap when she first saw him when they were captured and taken from the pickup under the bridge. Civilian 73 was not aware of similar events in Waterside.
Civilian 73 was asked about how the Finnish police managed to get in contact with her. According to the witness she was at the market one day and she was talking about family with her godmother, who told her that there were people interested in hearing about her experiences. Civilian 73 also called her “play mom.” Civilian 73 said that this person was not Civilian 61. The defense referred to the lower court’s judgment, where it was recorded that Civilian 73 was contacted via Civilian 61, who was like a godmother to Civilian 61. Civilian 73 said that she cannot remember all the details. According to Civilian 73, she did not discuss details with this person, she only told her that people would be interested in her experiences. After that, the play mom told her that people would come to speak to her. Civilian 73 gave her number and after a few months, the this lady called her saying that some men would call her. The defense pointed to the police report, which says that the police received Civilian 73’s contact information from Civilian 61. Civilian 73 answered by saying: “I just said she took my number.” Civilian 73 had not heard any news about somebody being arrested before going to the interview with Finnish police.
Witness Civilian 64 is heard
The prosecution questions Civilian 64
Civilian 64 began his testimony by stating that he had been a soap maker, and he moved to Monrovia to look for ingredients, as they were hard to come by during the war. He went to Waterside to see if he could find caustic soda, and there “Gabriel Massaquoi was ringing his name, they were firing, serious firing at Waterside.” When he was spotted with the caustic soda and other things, he was arrested, and they told him that he was a spy. All his ingredients were taken from him, and he was accused of being there on a reconnaissance mission. As Civilian 64 was trying to leave, he [Gabriel Massaquoi] gave an order and one of his soldiers hit Civilian 64 in his left eye. This eye is blind to this day. Civilian 64 was ordered to sit on the ground with blood pouring from his eye.
While Civilian 64 was sitting on the ground, he recognised two men from Charles Taylor’s special forces, who knew him as a soap maker, they used to buy soap from him. These men, John Walker and Peter Doe, told Massaquoi’s soldiers that Civilian 64 was not involved in anything as he was a soap maker and that’s how Civilian 64 was released. Civilian 64 also testified about his wife’s death in Waterside. She had gone to look for food and Civilian 64 never saw her again “I was wounded twice. I lost my eye and my wife in the war.”
The witness said there were War I, War II and War III. The incident Civilian 64 described happened during World Wars I and II. According to Civilian 64, Waterside was the only way to survive at that time, as it was the only place where one could find food such as rice or biscuits, so people went there to be able to get their families food. Peace arrived shortly after the World Wars. LURD was fighting on the other side, in and around Duala and they were coming that direction and there was also RUF troops. Civilian 64 was arrested by a store in Waterside, not far from the bridge. According to Civilian 64, the bridge did not have a name at the time, but after Ellen Johnson Sirleaf fixed it, it was called Old Ma Bridge. The store was on the right side of the road when looking from Old Ma Bridge, it was not far from the bridge. Civilian 64 went to Waterside alone, his wife had gone to a different place. Civilian 64 was not aware of what had happened to his wife.
When Civilian 64 was arrested at the store, there was shooting going on, people were killed there “Waterside was a mad house” said the witness. From the store, Civilian 64 was taken to a checkpoint that was located by a large store. That’s where you go under the bridge, the bridge was the Old Bridge that Old Ma [Ellen Sirleaf Johnson] promised to fix. Civilian 64 saw Gabriel Massaquoi for the first time by the store. Him and his men were “moving all over.” He said “I am Angel Gabriel Massaquoi, I am the one that can send people to heaven.” According to Civilian 64, he spoke Krio. He was wearing military camouflage clothes. He was giving orders to the soldiers, “he said there are people around all here, you have to be very careful, so they should search among them.” When Civilian 64 was taken under the Old Ma Bridge, he saw Gabriel Massaquoi there. Civilian 64 testified that his condition was bad, so he could not see exactly what Gabriel Massaquoi was doing there, but he said that there were a lot of women. According to Civilian 64, he was hit in his eye right after he had been arrested by the store. Gabriel Massaquoi gave the order, saying that this man is trying to leave, do not let him leave. The soldier hit Civilian 64 with something in his hand.
Civilian 64 testified that when he went to speak with the Finnish police for the first time, he had heard news about someone being arrested in Finland in relation to the Waterside events. He had heard the news from a local radio station, TrueFM and ELBC. It had not been a long time since he had heard the news when he went to meet with the police.
The witness wanted to state to the court that when he had heard that Massaquoi had been arrested, he had been “delighted”, but he had not been happy with the last information he had received [the acquittal] regarding the fact that there had not been enough evidence. “How is it possible that someone who has committed atrocities and mass murders, how can such a person be released?»
The defense questions Civilian 64
The defense began their questioning by asking Civilian 64 about the news he had heard about Mr Massaquoi’s arrest. Civilian 64 repeated that he had heard about the news on the radio. He had also seen his picture on a newspaper, as local newspapers had published Mr Massaquoi’s photograph. Civilian 64 said he did not know a man called [REDACTED], but he said that he has a stepfather who has a similar name. According to Civilian 64, neither John Walker nor Peter Dough, the two soldiers he recognised at the store, are alive anymore. They helped him get away from the situation, as they told Gabriel Massaquoi that Civilian 64 was a famous soap maker in Liberia and Gabriel Massaquoi then gave an order to release him.
Civilian 64 was asked how the Finnish police managed to get his contact information. After the incident, Employee 1 came to meet Civilian 64 in Gbarnga, as he was one of Civilian 64’s customers. Employee 1 asked how Civilian 64 had been, as they had not met in a long time and Civilian 64 told him about his experiences in Waterside. Employee 1 said that he was on his way to Lofa and took Civilian 64’s number. After returning from Lofa, Employee 1 called Civilian 64 and said that “Global Justice” [GJRP] would manage it. He asked Civilian 64, if Civilian 64 could tell his story also in a courtroom, and Civilian 64 answered yes. Civilian 64 could not remember when he met with Employee 1 in Gbarnga. He estimated that it was probably two years ago. After Civilian 64 gave his number to Employee 1, it did not take long until the Finnish police interviewed him. Civilian 64 did not discuss anything else related to Waterside with Employee 1 in Gbarnga, as Employee 1 was soon departing to go to Lofa. Civilian 64 had not heard Gabriel Massaquoi’s name from anyone before the police interview, he said it was generally known in Waterside: “His name was not a hidden something, it was ringing in Waterside.”
The defense referred to the lower court’s judgment, where it was recorded that Civilian 64 had learned Angel Gabriel Massaquoi’s name from Employee 1. Civilian 64 answered that this was not true. He categorically denied having learned the name from Employee 1. The defense referred to another section in the judgment, but Civilian 64 kept saying that he did not hear the name from Employee 1. According to Civilian 64, the only discussion he had with Employee 1 was the fact that Employee 1 was on his way to Lofa. Civilian 64 had discussed the incident with others, as his wound was visible, and the topic came up often. Civilian 64 also knew about similar incidents in Waterside, as according to him young people were fighting for their survival and breaking into stores. He was not aware of incidents similar to his own, as people had their personal problems back then. According to Civilian 64, the events in Waterside took place in 2001 to 2002.
