January 19, 2023 [Finland] Day 6: The prosecution questions Gibril Massaquoi
The defendant Gibril Massaquoi is heard
Prosecution questions Gibril Massaquoi
The prosecution began by asking whether it was true that he had not participated in combat within the RUF after his release from prison. Mr Massaquoi stated that this was partially correct, as, after his release from prison, there were a few internal fights within the RUF in which he had participated. He clarified that there were armed battles between the fighting parties within the RUF right before the ceasefire in May 1999, and that the attacks happened in March or April prior to that.
When asked if he took part of armed combat after that period, the defendant answered with “not really” and explained that the internal battles also involved fights with ECOMOG. He mentioned one incident near Lunsar, before the [Lomé] ceasefire [in May 1999] where ECOMOG attacked the RUF’s positions with fighter jets and infantry. During an ambush, one journalist accompanying the ECOMOG forces died, and RUF troops picked up his equipment and brought it to Superman. Mr Massaquoi clarified that the ambush took place near Lunsar just before the ceasefire, and that this was the last time he participated in combat. The prosecution then asked about a statement that Mr Massaquoi had given to the OTP of the SCSL, whereby he had mentioned similar events in Lunsar and stated that they took place in 2000. Mr Massaquoi responded that it could not have taken place in 2000 as he was in Freetown working as Mr Sankoh’s assistant at that time, and that area had been disarmed in December 2019. Mr Massaquoi stated that he was shooting the fighter jets in the air and the actual ambush took place elsewhere. When asked about the fact that in his statement to the OTP he does not mention the fighter jets, Mr Massaquoi stated that he was still talking about the same event. He confirmed that he was armed and using arms during the ambush but that this was the last time he participated in armed combat, and he did so to defend himself. At another point in the hearing, the prosecution again asked Mr Massaquoi whether he was certain that this was the last time. He responded affirmatively, saying that the internal fights in 1999 were the last time that he took up arms.
The prosecution then turned to another portion of the OTP statement, where Mr Massaquoi had said that there was another attack in Lunsar in July 2000. Mr Massaquoi stated that he remembers the events, but they could not have taken place in 2000 as the area had already been disarmed by December 1999. He stated that the events might have actually taken place in 1999, before the ceasefire. The prosecution also asked about the part of the OTP statement where Mr Massaquoi stated that he was himself armed and leading a group of soldiers during that particular attack. Mr Massaquoi confirmed this, saying that this in fact took place during the internal RUF conflict. When asked, he specified that by “infight” he meant that it was “RUF versus RUF and then a group that was fighting the RUF, they had split from the AFRC. They called themselves the West Side Boys” and that this group also experienced infighting.
The prosecution pointed out to the fact that these last statements went against what Mr Massaquoi had previously claimed, which was that after he was released from prison, he no longer engaged in fighting. It further asked if after the second battle near Lunsar, Mr Massaquoi participated to any other fighting – or fighting plans. Mr Massaquoi explained that the infighting reached all the way to Makeni, and that he participated. He recalled how Mr Sankoh had sent him and Superman to check on Mr Sesay, as Mr Sankoh had been unable to reach him via radio for two days. As they were trying to reach Makeni, the car they were travelling on was attacked.
Mr Massaquoi was also asked about an operation in the Gola Forest. He stated that this was planned by President Taylor with some of the RUF members present in Liberia as an attempt to sabotage the peace process in Sierra Leone. Mr Massaquoi stated that he immediately informed the UN about the plans and disclosed this to the OTP. When asked about his role in the operation, Mr Massaquoi stated that he attended a meeting where it was disclosed that should the RUF fail in its objectives, another front should be opened into northeastern Sierra Leone, Gola Forest [from Liberia].
The prosecution raised that on one of his statements to the OTP he mentioned that he “told these code names to Issa”, and asked whether he had participated in the concrete planning and information sharing about the operation. Mr Massaquoi stated that he did not participate in the planning, but was trying to have these code names applied. He also stated that the operation was being planned while the peace process was ongoing, and that he did not know why such an operation was being planned at the same time with the peace process as it was Charles Taylor’s idea. According to Mr Massaquoi, the plan was to form a new rebel group in Sierra Leone to replace the RUF, as the RUF was in the middle of disarmament. He stated that the planning took place in 2000 or 2001, and that it must have originated from Charles Taylor and RUF members who, alongside Sam Bockarie, had escaped to Liberia in December 1999. Mr Massaquoi added “I can’t tell you why they were there.”
Mr Massaquoi was asked about the statement he had given the OTP about RUF soldiers in Liberia. He explained that these troops were not the ones who were meant to be in Gola Forest, but those who were sent by Issa Sesay (who oversaw the RUF’s armed wing) to Liberia, in Lofa and Voinjama, to secure the road for the delegation in 2000. According to Mr Massaquoi, the troops meant for the Gola Forest operation were meant to come from Monrovia, and they were a separate team from the ones sent to secure the roads in Lofa county in August/September 2000. When asked if this was the first time that Mr Sesay or RUF went to fight in Liberia, the defendant explained that to his knowledge, RUF had gone to Lofa in 1998, when he had been in prison. He mentioned that Karmo Kanneh, aka Eagle, had disclosed in his testimony the dates of 1998, 1999, and 2000. Mr Massaquoi could not say who had invited the RUF to Liberia on these previous occasions, but he guessed it could have been either President Taylor or Benjamin Yeaten.
Next, Mr Massaquoi was asked about his tasks as Foday Sankoh’s assistant. He had told the defense that most of his tasks consisted of politics and participation in peace negotiations. He added that he was occasionally sent to the field to bring soldiers food, and to meet Issa Sesay to present reports to him.
Mr Massaquoi was questioned about whether he had ever carried diamonds. The prosecution wanted some clarifications as Mr Massaquoi had stated both that he had transported diamonds between Issa Sesay and Mr Sankoh, and then that he did not transport them personally himself. The defendant explained that he had not personally carried diamonds, but had been in a group that brought diamonds to Sankoh. When Sankoh was the vice president in charge of development and mineral resources, he was sent twice to Issa Sesay to bring diamonds to Mr Sankoh. The prosecution asked if he did, then, transport personally diamonds, Mr Massaquoi responded “yes, this was in Sierra Leone” and that the question he was asked about it the day prior, when questioned by the defense counsel was about Liberia and Charles Taylor. He then specified that on the two occasion he was sent to Mr Sesay, he used Mr Sankoh’s commission car to go to Kono and back, but that he also had food and mining supplies with him.
Mr Massaquoi stated that he did not know what Sankoh did with the diamonds, and that there were some agreements with Sierra Leone’s President Kabbah. Sometimes he was also sent to pick up Lebanese businessmen and take them to Sankoh’s house to buy them, and when they were there they were “discussing buying diamonds, mining, things like that”, and that these businessmen paid in cash – he reiterated that the then President of Sierra Leone was aware of these “deals with Lebanese and other foreigners”. Mr Massaquoi also remembered bringing mining equipment and food supplies from the Lebanese men and bring them to Issa Sesay in Kono. He stated that he was not aware of what the RUF or Mr Sankoh were doing with the money obtained from the diamonds. Mr Massaquoi also mentioned that he and Sankoh went to South Africa in 2000 to discuss diamond mining with the Kramer Group company, who had also sent an agent to discuss plans with them prior to their arrival. Once in South Africa, Mr Sankoh, then vice President of Sierra Leone and in charge of development and mineral reserves, discussed mining and selling diamonds with them. The prosecution presented a statement that he had made to the OTP, where he seemed to discuss the RUF trading diamonds for ammunition in Liberia. He responded that the statement referred to a time when Sankoh was in prison, and that Sankoh did not purchase any ammunition once he had settled in Freetown.
Mr Massaquoi then spoke of discussions in Liberia between the RUF delegation and President Taylor regarding diamonds. He stated that the discussions between him and Mr Taylor had already been ongoing before the delegation arrived in Monrovia and continued while they were stationed there. According to him, before the peace process began, the RUF used diamonds to purchase arms and ammunition from Liberia. During the peace process, when Mr Massaquoi himself was in Liberia, the purchases related to “political supplies” such as computers, vehicles and satellite phones. Mr Massaquoi stated that he had been himself in a vehicle which, loaded with arms and ammunition, was driven from Lofa county to Sierra Leone for Issa Sesay. He said to have not been aware of how these arms and ammunition had been paid for as this was between Issa Sesay and either President Taylor or Benjamin Yeaten: Mr Massaquoi had seen Issa Sesay give diamonds to Benjamin Yeaten, who took them to Charles Taylor. He stated to have not been aware of how Issa Sesay used the money he had received from the diamonds. The prosecution then cited a statement Mr Massaquoi had given to the OTP, where he had stated that Taylor gave the RUF arms and ammunition, possibly in exchange of diamonds. Mr Massaquoi stated that it was indeed possible that diamonds were exchanged for arms and ammunition, but such an arrangement would have been between Samil Ossailly, a Lebanese businessman, Ibrahim Bah and Issa Sesay. When he was asked how he could have become aware of such an arrangement, Mr Massaquoi stated that he met Ibrahim Bah at Hotel Boulevard after becoming the leader of the RUF delegation. Ibrahim Bah was not a part of the peace delegation, and Mr Massaquoi stated that he had informed the Special Court on all that he knew about him because he had nothing to hide.
Next, the prosecution asked Mr Massaquoi whether the discussions with President Taylor about the arms and ammunition took place at the same time as the peace process. Mr Massaquoi stated that he had not seen Charles Taylor giving arms and ammunition to Issa Sesay, but he had seen Benjamin Yeaten doing it did as the leader of the Special Security Service (SSS).
The prosecution then started questioning Mr Massaquoi on the external delegation he led – which he confirmed went to Monrovia in August 2000. He reiterated that before reaching Monrovia, the road had to be secured on the border between Sierra Leone and Lofa county. He stated that he was not sure if the road-clearing battles took place in July 2000, but that discussions that the road was blocked were held in July. Mr Massaquoi confirmed that he himself had travelled in August 2000. Prior to Mr Massaquoi’s delegation arrival to Monrovia, Issa Sesay had already been talking to ECOWAS from Liberia.
Mr Massaquoi and the prosecution then discussed, in detail, the route that the delegation took on their first trip to Monrovia. Mr Massaquoi stated that this was the first time that he had travelled in Liberia, so he was not aware of all the towns and villages that they passed on the way. On the way to Monrovia, Mr Massaquoi saw RUF soldiers in Voinjama, but did not speak with them. On the way back he met with Defence 7 in Voinjama and spoke with him.
The prosecution referred to Ilmari Käihkö’s expert report on the battles in Lofa county. In his report, Mr Käihkö describes how the last of LURD’s three attacks took place in July 2000, with LURD occupying Voinjama from July to October 2000. Based on this, the prosecution asked Mr Massaquoi how it could have been possible for the delegation to travel via Voinjama to Monrovia in August 2000, as the city was under LURD occupation. Mr Massaquoi stated that he cannot speak for Mr Käihkö and repeated that he travelled to Monrovia via Voinjama, returning the same way after a few weeks.
Mr Massaquoi was also asked about a town called Vahun, in Liberia. He stated that he knows the place but that he could not remember whether he had visited nearby villages Yandehun or Kamatahun Hassala. He was asked whether it could have been possible that the delegation took another route southwards from Kailahun instead of taking the northern route through Voinjama. Mr Massaquoi repeated that they drove from Foya to Voinjama and he later became aware of these towns’ names. To return to Sierra Leone, they took the same road back, and had met RUF soldiers and Defense 7 in Voinjama. Sometime in 2001, he traveled by helicopter from Vahun to Monrovia.
According to Mr Massaquoi, he had met with Benjamin Yeaten in Lofa when the delegation was travelling by helicopter. He could not remember the first time he met with Benjamin Yeaten, but the meeting took place either in Kolahun, Vahun or some other village next to them. The prosecution referred to Mr Massaquoi’s statement to the OTP, where he had mentioned having met with Yeaten in August 2000 in Vahun. He responded that he could not remember having met with Yeaten during the first delegation trip. Mr Massaquoi also repeated that he could not remember all the villages in Lofa county that he went through during the delegation trips.
According to Mr Massaquoi, when the delegation got to Monrovia, they discussed the peace process, diamonds, and Guinea. They discussed the fact that Guinea was used to attack Liberia by LURD, and Charles Taylor’s idea that both RUF and Taylor’s troops should pursue these attackers from Lofa. When asked how this fit together with the fact that President Taylor was supposed to be the guarantor of Sierra Leone’s peace process, he stated that during the Lomé agreement, Taylor was truly trying to achieve peace in Sierra Leone, but that his actions during Abuja I and II seemed to have been aimed at sabotaging the peace process in Liberia. Mr Massaquoi stated that he had reported this to the UN at the time, and peace negotiations continued outside Liberia, in Mali, and both Abuja agreements were signed in Nigeria, but President Taylor did not sign them.
According to Mr Massaquoi, the RUF’s road clearing operation in Lofa county was a success, as the delegation was able to get to Monrovia. Mr Massaquoi also mentioned the RUF’s previous external delegation, which was in place before the one that he was leading, also required a road clearing operation.
Mr Massaquoi was asked about the last time he visited Liberia. He repeated his statement from the previous day, maintaining that he visited Liberia in June 2001 and arrived back in Sierra Leone in early July 2001. The prosecution referred to a statement that he had given to the OTP, where he seems to discuss being in Monrovia much later, on July 28, 2001. Mr Massaquoi stated that the statement relates to completely different events around the time he was in prison, in 1997.
Mr Massaquoi was also asked about his fishing project. In the draft of his book, he mentions that he never implemented any project with the NCDDR, but he had spoken of the fishing project before the court. He maintained what he had said the previous day, that the project had been approved, but it was never implemented as he could not receive the funding when he was placed in the Special Court safe house. He explained that the project had been approved by the NCDDR in late 2002 and that in early 2003, they had asked him to open an account to transfer the funds. However, once he had opened the account, the transfer could not be carried out, as his personal signature was required for the transfer. Due to him being in the safe house, he could not go to sign the documents necessary for the transfer.
Mr Massaquoi was also asked about the satellite phone that Charles Taylor had given him which had the ability to hide the user’s location. He had written in his book that he used the functionality during “most interviews” in late 2000 and early 2001. Mr Massaquoi stated that the timing is correct and that he had potentially used this function during multiple interviews. He stated that he only remembers the one with the BBC, where General Opande found out that he was faking his location. Mr Massaquoi stated that the RUF acquired satellite phones from Samil Ossailly and various other businessmen via Issa Sesay and Ibrahim Bah. Mr Massaquoi was asked about a statement to the OTP, where he mentions having received satellite phones and computers meant for the RUF paid for in diamonds. He confirmed that this indeed took place, that these supplies were bought from businessmen from the same group as Samil Ossailly.
Mr Massaquoi also stated that Defense 13 arrived in Freetown a few weeks or months after he had left her in Monrovia. He could not remember the exact month, but he stated that their son was born in July 2001. Mr Massaquoi stated that he believed that their son was born in Liberia, but Defense 13 had said in the lower court that she gave birth in Freetown.
Mr Massaquoi was also asked about written notes found in the prison guest room in Finland. He stated that he had not asked anyone to defend him in any other way than by testifying truthfully about the events that had taken place.
Mr Massaquoi also explained that the RUF was present in Foya, but he was not sure whether there was a building or separate headquarters for RUF use in Liberia. He also stated that he met Charles Taylor for the first time in Nigeria, most likely in 1997, and had seen him in 1991 at the Liberian border, when the RUF was pushed there by the government troops. He also stated that when Sam Bockarie left the RUF in December 1999, he immediately lost contact with all other RUF members. Mr Massaquoi said that when the delegation went to Liberia, some RUF members were in contact with Sam Bockarie and even Mr Massaquoi saw Bockarie once or twice in Liberia. When asked about a statement to the OTP, where he had mentioned that the RUF was in constant contact with Sam Bockarie, Mr Massaquoi stated that some members were in contact with Bockarie, but this was not in an official capacity.
The defense questions Mr Massaquoi
After the prosecution had completed their questions, the defense was invited to ask follow-up questions. Mr Massaquoi described a meeting the RUF delegation had with various ECOWAS leaders on the Monrovia Roberts International Airport. He also stated that he was well-known not only in Sierra Leone but also globally after becoming the RUF’s spokesman and press secretary. He could not estimate how well-known he was in Liberia at the time, but he knew that his statements were reported in Liberian media. Mr Massaquoi also stated that when he was writing the notes found in the prison guest room, he was aware that there is a lot of video material available online.
Fayah Williams’ recording is viewed
After Mr Massaquoi’s hearing, the Court of Appeals watched the recording of Fayah Williams’ testimony from the lower court, as the witness had died between the two trials. After the recording, the parties discussed a piece of written evidence relating to this witness’s testimony.
