May 10, 2023 [Liberia] Day 51: RUF members meeting with Massaquoi
Witness Defense 03 is heard
The defense questions Defense 03
The defense began by asking Defense 03 how he had gotten to know Gibril Massaquoi. Defense 03 testified that he had known Gibril Massaquoi since 1991, when they joined the RUF. Gibril was a target commander and Defense 03 was in the target he was commanding. Gibril was a target commander until 1996, when he left for the North and joined Superman. He got sick in 1996 and was taken by helicopter to the Ivory Coast. He spent a long time there, and after returning, he spoke to the international media. He was with Foday Sankoh as a spokesman. Later, when the peace process started, he joined Sankoh in Freetown as his special assistant.
The witness testified that he came to Liberia once. He had come to fight, but returned the same day without fighting. He came with soldiers and Defense 12. They had 70 men in total. They went through Koindu, Sierra Leone, and crossed the border to Mendekoma, Liberia. This was in 1999 or 2000, it was the rainy season. They were sent to Liberia to help open the road and to help the Liberians push the enemy away. Eagle was sent to one flank, while Defense 03 and Defense 12 were on the other flank by the border between Liberia and Guinea. The route was used to travel to Monrovia; from Foya to Buedu and Kolahun. They had to open the road so that the delegation with Gibril Massaquoi, Issa Sesay and others could travel freely. Defense 12 was in charge of the troops they brought to Liberia. Defense 12 stayed in Mendekoma, near the Guinean and Liberian border. There was also another village, which they used as a base camp to plan combat, but the witness could not recall the name of the village.
Defense 03 provided the court with Eagle’s real name. Eagle fought in Kolahun and Foya, on the main road. He had come to Liberia before Defense 03, he had opened and cleared the road. Defense 03 and Defense 12 were sent to prevent the enemy from attacking Eagle. The enemy consisted of ULIMO troops, such as Mosquito Spray. The witness stayed in Liberia for only a day and when he left, Eagle was still there. Defense 12 stayed in Liberia after the witness left. He could not say for how long Defense 12 remained in Liberia, but estimated that it did not take a week for him to return. The witness met some RUF commanders while he was in Liberia, such as Colonel Jungle and Liberian Mosquito, who was NPFL. Defense 03 handed over the troops to Liberian Mosquito. He had also met Zigzag Marzah in Liberia, in the village, the name of which he could not recall. The witness explained that Zigzag Marzah came from Monrovia and went back and forth, he was one of Charles Taylor’s senior commanders. Defense 03 did not see anything in particular in Liberia, he just handed over the troops and left.
At the time, disarmament was ongoing in Sierra Leone. The witness was disarmed in Tongo in early 2001. When he returned to Sierra Leone, the troops he had brought to Liberia stayed there. He did not meet Gibril Massaquoi in Liberia, but he saw the delegation going through Buedu in Sierra Leone on their way to and from Monrovia. Defense 03 testified that the delegation travelled to Monrovia specifically because Charles Taylor was a part of the peace process. Going to Monrovia simplified things for the RUF. This was an effort to get the Abuja peace process back on track, Abuja I was in 2000 and Abuja II in 2001. There were also tripartite negotiations in Kono after Abuja I.
Defense 03 explained that he did not meet Gibril after he returned to Sierra Leone from Liberia, he only saw the delegation pass by Buedu. Gibril was a diplomat at the time. The witness spent the whole disarmament period in Tongo. He had also lived in Buedu and Freetown. He lived in Freetown in 1997, 1999 and 2000. He met Gibril Massaquoi in Sierra Leone in 2001 or 2002 and in 2006, 2007 or 2008, when he was getting ready to leave for Finland. In 2002, around the time the RUF was transferred into a political party and participating in the elections, they met at Gibril Massaquoi’s house. He was living in Kissi, in a yellow house. Massaquoi participated in the political activities of the RUFP. He was given money to rent an office and to buy supplies, he was the party spokesman. This was in 2002. The witness met Massaquoi almost daily in 2002 at the party office or at Massaquoi’s house.
The witness did not know what else Massaquoi was doing in 2002. After the 2002 elections, they met in 2007 or 2008 in Freetown. Massaquoi’s code name was Gaffa and he was also called Gibo. Defense 03 had not heard of anyone named Angel Gabriel or Angel in the RUF. He knew Sam Bockarie aka Mosquito, and testified that he and Gibril Massaquoi were not on friendly terms, there was a lot of confusion and internal conflict between Issa, Mosquito and Gibril. Sam Bockarie was an RUF member and he lived in Sierra Leone. He moved to Liberia in 1999. Defense 03 testified that if Gibril Massaquoi had come with him, Sam Bockarie would have killed him.
The prosecution questions Defense 03
The prosecution began by asking about Defense 03’s trip to Mendekoma. The witness testified that this was in late 2000, possibly in June. He listed the places they had travelled through, and then confirmed that it was actually in 2001. Mendekoma is in Lofa county. He had only spent one day in Liberia, he left the same day as there was no food or work in Mendekoma. The prosecution pointed out that the witness had testified in the lower court that he had spent three days in Lofa. He responded that he had only spent one day in Liberia, but Defense 12 had told him that he had spent three days there.
Defense 03 maintained that he only brought the troops to Mendekoma and returned, he did not participate in any fighting. He had fought near the border earlier, in 1991-1993. He confirmed that this trip to Mendekoma was the only time he had been to Liberia. The witness then added that he had fought on the first day when he came to Liberia. They fought in Foya, at Foya Airfield for two to three hours. They fought with NPFL against the enemy who had blocked the road, LURD. This all took place within one day: they arrived at night, all preparations were made, they attacked early in the morning, and came back that evening. Foya Airfield is four to five miles away from Mendekoma. They took small roads to Foya Airfield and went back to Mendekoma after the attack. There were 70 RUF troops and over a hundred Liberians. The RUF went by foot, while the Liberians attacked in vehicles. They walked from Mendekoma to Foya on the same day. The trip from Tongo to Mendekoma took two to three days, but he had only spent one day in Mendekoma.
The witness confirmed that his task was related to Eagle’s operation opening the road for the delegation. According to him, it was the RUF’s idea for the delegation to travel to Monrovia, as ECOWAS needed a delegation from the RUF. ECOWAS was not aware of the fighting taking place in order for the delegation to make it to Monrovia, they just wanted them there. The RUF and NPFL fighters that fought alongside each other at Foya Airfield knew each other, some of the RUF fighters had already fought in the NPFL. Defense 03 testified that the only time he saw Gibril Massaquoi in Liberia was one of two trips he had in Liberia. He knew of Massaquoi’s travels in Liberia, because he had been at the Kono meeting and had heard about his work with the delegation. The second trip was for Abuja II, when Massaquoi went from Lunsar to Guinea, because Issa, Massaquoi and Mosquito were not on good terms. At the time, it was possible to travel from Guinea to Liberia by air or by land.
Defense 03 testified that he came to Freetown after disarmament in 2001-2002 and met Massaquoi. In 2001, they kept in touch by radio. The witness was not aware of Gibril’s whereabouts between 2002 and 2003, he only heard about him again in 2007. During disarmament, not all the communication equipment was taken away from them, there was some left over for the commanders to communicate with each other. Once there were problems with the peacekeepers, everything was taken away. They also had one hidden at the house in the government compound. The witness confirmed that he saw Massaquoi at his house and at the party office in Freetown in 2002, but that they didn’t see each other after that. The prosecution pointed out that he had testified in the lower court that he had moved away from Freetown, to Tongo, before the general elections. There was discussion in court as to when the witness was in Freetown and Tongo in 2002, and when and where he had seen Massaquoi.
The witness went to Liberia with 70 troops in total and returned with three or four bodyguards, leaving the Liberians in Mendekoma with about 65 men in total.
Further questions from the defense
Defense 03 testified that Massaquoi only spent one day in Tongo when he had the problem with Issa Sesay. Massaquoi was evacuated from Tongo to Makeni and then from Makeni to Freetown. The witness knew one Sierra Leonean called Gabriel, Mike Lamin’s brother. After the defense referred to his police interview, the witness recalled that he used to know one Angel Gabriel. He was RUF, and the witness had heard that he died in 1997 or 1998, in Tongo. The defense pointed out that he had told the Finnish police that he died after disarmament, around 2003, in Tongo. Defense 03 responded that he heard about Angel Gabriel’s death after disarmament. Angel Gabriel was addressed as a sergeant, he had two or three bodyguards under him. Defense 03, Angel Gabriel and others was all under Mosquito, Issa Sesay and Morris Kallon. The witness explained that he knows of two Angel Gabriels, one soldier, who died in Tongo, and Mike Lamin’s brother, who was not a soldier. He had gotten to know Mike Lamin’s brother through the AFRC. He did not participate in combat. Both Gabriels were referred to as Angel Gabriel.
Witness Defense 06 is heard
The defense questions Defense 06
The defense began by asking Defense 06 how he had gotten to know Gibril Massaquoi. The witness testified that he had known Gibril Massaquoi since the beginning of the war, in 1991 or 1992. They were in different targets. In 1999, the witness was in Tongo, he had been assigned there. Gibril Massaquoi was in prison at Pademba Road at the time, before the AFRC released him. The witness heard about him through the field radio, but he did not meet him personally. In 2000, the witness met Massaquoi in Makeni, after Foday Sankoh had been ousted from the RUF. He went to get financial help for diamond mining. Massaquoi told him that he did not have money at the time, but that he would call him once he had some. Massaquoi contacted him in 2002 and they met in Freetown. This time, he did not have the money, but he told the witness that he was preparing a fishing project for the DDR, it had been approved. Defense 06 and two others joined him to Gbondapi not long after, this was during the dry season 2002. They spent one day in Gbondapi, after which Massaquoi went to Bo and Defense 06 went to Tongo. Before this trip, Massaquoi had written the project and was waiting for its approval. They went there to prepare for the project, they met with leaders and told them about it. The witness never saw the document that Massaquoi had prepared.
Defense 06 was aware of Gibril Massaquoi’s cooperation with the UN. Later, Gibril and Issa Sesay were arrested, Gibril joined the prosecution’s side and was put in a safe house. The fishing project was never implemented, as Gibril never received the money for it. The witness learned about this in 2002. In late 2002, Massaquoi was arrested and in 2003, he was put in the safe house. The last time Defense 06 met with Massaquoi was in 2003. Massaquoi called and asked to meet him. He went to meet him near the stadium, Massaquoi gave money to the security guards and they went upstairs.
The witness did not know of anyone called Angel Gabriel. He had heard of someone named Gabriel, but had never met them. He was located around the Kailahun District. The witness could not remember the address for the safe house. It was located near the stadium, near the Youyi building.
The prosecution questions Defense 06
The prosecution began by asking about the financial support Defense 06 had asked for the diamond mining in Tongo. The witness testified that the RUF was operating the diamond mines in Tongo: “when you are fighting war, when you capture any place, that area is for you”. At the time, the RUF had the whole area, Lunsar, Kono, Tongo. The diamonds that were mined in Tongo could be kept by whoever found them. The mines weren’t controlled, any RUF fighter could come and mine for themselves. Massaquoi was in Lunsar and in 2002 he came to tell the miners that they should stop and dig for the government. The prosecution pointed out that Defense 06 had testified in the lower court that Massaquoi had boys mining for him at the diamond mines. The witness explained: “One thing during the revolution, when boys were assigned with you anything they did it was you. If they were doing it for him, he would not have told them to stop”. Massaquoi came to tell them that they had to get permits from the government before mining. Defense 06 testified that Massaquoi did not take any diamonds, it was Issa who would come and take people’s diamonds, but Massaquoi put a stop to that. The witness did not know what Issa did with the diamonds, he was the leader of the RUF at the time.
Defense 06 testified that when he went to meet Massaquoi in Freetown, Massaquoi was not working at the time. He was participating in the political activities of the RUF. The witness went to see him at the RUF party office about two or three months after the elections in 2002. He, Gibril Massaquoi, and two others went to Gbondapi to make arrangements for the fishing project. The witness could not recall what kind of arrangements they were making, he only remembered that they would have returned once the money came through. Defense 06 was supposed to train the participants in the project. The first time he heard about the project was in 2002, when he had been to Freetown to see Massaquoi.
The witness denied that Massaquoi gave money to the guards at the safe house when he went to visit him in 2003. He explained that his name was written down, and then he was allowed to go upstairs. There were about four guards in total, they were all armed. Three to four months had passed since his move to the safe house until Gibril called him. He told him that the money for the fishing project had not come through, and that the project would probably not come to anything as he could be leaving for Finland at any moment. They only spent an hour together, and the witness returned to Tongo. He later heard that Gibril had gone to Finland, it was not long after their meeting. Defense 06 was aware that Gibril had been a part of a delegation in Liberia in 2001. He testified that he had only visited Gibril in the safe house once. The prosecution pointed out that he had testified at the lower court that he was friends with Gibril and had gone to the safe house a few times, and that he was “known” there. The witness denied this, stating that one could not simply walk into the safe house without having their name written down. He and Gibril were friends, but if he had not called him, he would not have gone to the safe house.
Final question from the defense
The witness confirmed that he had heard of a sergeant Angel Gabriel, he got the information on the field radio.
