March 29, 2023 [Liberia] Day 39: Defense witnesses testify

March 29, 2023 [Liberia] Day 39: Defense witnesses testify

Witness L5 is heard

The defense questions L5

The defense began the hearing by presenting a report that witness L5 had drafted and sent to the United Nations. The defense then asked about the witness’ background. The witness testified that he was born in Masambolahun, Lofa. He moved to Monrovia in 1968. The witness confirmed that he had drafted the document handed to him by the defense. It was titled ‘COHPACKOD’ and was drafted when the witness went from Monrovia to Sierra Leone. The witness explained that at the time, the Minister of Defense was accusing the people of Kolahun district of being rebel sympathizers. L5 wrote an article in the Inquirer newspapering debunking these accusations and as a result, the Ministry of Defense ordered his arrest. L5 then had to flee to Sierra Leone. As he got to Sierra Leone, he observed what was happening at the border between Sierra Leone and Liberia. He could not remember exactly when he went to the border, it happened a long time ago. At the time, war was ongoing in Liberia.

The witness testified that he went to Buedu, a border town between Sierra Leone and Liberia. He saw refugees coming from Liberia and going to Sierra Leone and he gathered information from them. He would meet people coming over the border and discuss their experiences with them. L5 estimated that he spent about two weeks in Buedu and then went to Kenema. He could not remember the year, but estimated that this took place in the 1990s, as the crisis was coming towards them. Charles Taylor was the president of Liberia at the time. After he gathered information, L5 went to Kenema to put it all together. It took him about two weeks to complete the report. He confirmed that he had dated the report 21 May 2002 and had sent it to Kofi Annan, the Secretary-General of the United Nations. He explained that he gathered the information at the border and drafted the letter to Kofi Annan right afterwards, he had a meeting with Amnesty International in Kenema. He estimated that he had gathered the information earlier in May. The defense showed a section of the document which was dated “March-April 2002”. The witness explained that the interviews were conducted within this time period and the document was drafted in May.

L5 estimated that he met many people, approximately 20. These people had come in contact with the rebels, especially in Kamatahun, where a massacre had occurred, and were coming straight from Kamatahun to Sierra Leone. Some of them were from other villages, and were taken to Kamatahun, put inside a building, and burned alive. Some of the people he spoke with were there to witness the burning of people in Kamatahun, such as [REDACTED], who was there when his relatives were burned. The witness estimated that in total, he met about 15 people who witnessed houses being burned. According to L5, people were taken from Kailahun, Yamatahun, and Kiantahun, and brought to Kamatahun. He explained that people were ‘free to talk’, about their experiences, as they had managed to flee from Liberia and were already in Sierra Leone.

The witness confirmed the ‘Kamatahun, Hassala clan’ mentioned in the document. The leader of the rebels was stationed in Kamatahun. According to him, this was the location where most of the things done by Zigzag Marzah took place. People told him that Zigzag Marzah was the person responsible for burning the people. They said that he captured people, put them inside a house and set the house on fire. Zigzag Marzah was an NPFL commander. L5 had also heard the name Pepper and Salt, but he was not in Kamatahun. The witness confirmed that he had interviewed some people that he knew beforehand.

L5 could not remember how many people were burned in Kamatahun. The people he interviewed only mentioned the NPFL, he could not remember if they mentioned RUF or LURD. He testified that the 28 names listed in his article were people who came from Kamatahun and other areas, most of the people listed in the article were killed in Kamatahun. Most of these names were given to him by people who had been there to witness the killings. There were also some people who had come to Kamatahun after the burning had taken place. They said that people such as [REDACTED] were there when the people were killed. L5 testified further that Zigzag Marzah was Mosquito’s commander, he gave orders to him and others. Mosquito was one of the killers, he killed some people by shooting and some with a cutlass.  

The witness confirmed that he spent two weeks at the border conducting interviews. He returned to Liberia after the Accra peace negotiations, estimating that this was in 2003. He had heard the name Stanley, it was mentioned by people coming from Liberia. They told him that Stanley was transporting fighters. L5 had not heard the names Massaquoi, Angel, or Angel Gabriel. He had been to Lofa many times after returning to Liberia after the war. People had spoken a lot about the war, including the commanders responsible for atrocities such as Stanley and Zigzag Marzah. L5 had spent time in Masambolahun from 2004.

The prosecution questions L5

The prosecution began by asking about where in Buedu the witness interviewed people. He responded that there was no particular spot in Buedu where he would wait, he was just meeting people on the street. He saw people coming and approached them to talk. He could not remember how many people came from Liberia to Buedu, there were a lot of people. Most of them passed to other towns and villages, such as Kailahun. There were many refugee camps in the area. L5 would approach a person and ask them for an interview. He would then take the person to a house or building nearby, where they could talk. People were constantly coming over the border, he did not speak with everyone. He took notes and wrote his article based on these interviews.

L5 testified that he had not checked his notes for the names Massaquoi, Angel or Angel Gabriel before appearing in court. He heard the name Gibril Massaquoi from the BBC when the case started. His understanding of the names not being mentioned was based on his own experience and what he learned when he was in contact with people. The witness confirmed that about 15 people told him that they were in Kamatahun to witness people being burned inside a house. Nobody told him how many people in total were in Kamatahun at the time, they only said that there was a big crowd, a lot of people. L5 confirmed that he was told that people were brought to Kamatahun from other villages such as Kiantahun. He did not know how many people lived in Kamatahun at the time.

The witness testified that at the time, he didn’t know of the RUF. He didn’t remember having learned whether the RUF had been in Lofa at the time. The prosecution pointed out that L5 had testified in the lower court that people had mentioned NPFL and LURD, and although the RUF had not been mentioned, they had been there with the NPFL with their base further away in Foya. L5 responded that he had not met any people in Buedu with contact with the NPFL or RUF. He had heard that the RUF was in Foya at the time, but he did not know any details.

L5 explained how he got in contact with people coming from Liberia. He would ask questions and they would answer. They would tell him what village they were from and tell him what happened. The name Zigzag Marzah was repeated everywhere. He would ask people where they were coming from and the interview would proceed from there. [REDACTED] gave him a detailed description of what happened in Kamatahun, that people were put inside a building and burned. The witness confirmed that his story was recorded accurately. L5 could not remember the first time he went to Masambolahun after returning to Liberia but stated that he had been there several times after the war.

Further questions from the defense

According to L5, the NPFL was fighting ULIMO in Lofa. He repeated that he had not heard the name Massaquoi except in connection with the lawsuit on the BBC. He could not remember how many people were put inside the building in Kamatahun. The defense pointed out that in his article, it is mentioned that of 75 people were killed. The witness estimated that this was what [REDACTED] had said. He could not remember how many people he interviewed in total. The defense pointed out that he had told the Finnish police that he had interviewed about 75 refugees, which he confirmed.

Witness Defense 14 is heard

The defense questions Defense 14

The defense began by asking how witness Defense 14 had gotten to know Gibril Massaquoi. The witness testified that he met Gibril Massaquoi in late 1999 in Segbwema. Massaquoi was introduced to the witness by Foday Sankoh, the leader of the RUF, who told him that Massaquoi would come to Freetown to work with them. At the time, Massaquoi was on the front in Segbwema as an RUF commander, and Defense 14 was the protocol chief for Foday Sankoh.

Defense 14 moved with Sankoh to Freetown in early 2000 and Massaquoi joined them there. The witness was working at Sankoh’s office on Spur Road in Freetown. He handled protocol, and Massaquoi was Sankoh’s personal assistant. According to Defense 14, Massaquoi worked directly under Sankoh and relayed instructions from Sankoh to the front. They were working at Spur Road in 2000, before May. He met Gibril Massaquoi every day at the office, they worked from eight o’clock in the morning until five o’clock in the afternoon. They worked there until the attack on Foday Sankoh’s residence on 8 May 2000. Sankoh’s residence was in the same building with the office.

The witness described how a large crowd gathered outside the office in the morning, they were chanting and shouting slogans. They began throwing stones and tried to cut off the power. Gunshots were also fired at the house. As the gunfire increased, UNAMSIL peacekeepers left the area, despite being responsible for Sankoh’s safety. Defense 14 and the others were left alone inside the house. Gibril Massaquoi, some women and Superman were there with Sankoh. They escaped from the back of the house to the bush. According to Defense 14, they were chased and shot at in the bush. They were trying to find their way into Makeni, it took them about two days in the bush to reach there from Freetown. At some point, the group split, and Defense 14 came to Monrovia, while Gibril Massaquoi went to Makeni.

Defense 14 testified that after the Lomé peace agreement the RUF signed a lot of documents to stop the hostilities and continue the peace process. The RUF participated in many meetings in Freetown after Sankoh arrived. The disarmament process was already underway before the attack on 8 May. The witness estimated that regions such as Makeni and Segbwema had been disarmed by then. In 2000, Massaquoi was appointed as member of the RUF external delegation, after the ECOWAS Heads of State meeting. Between the Lomé agreement and the 8 May attack, Massaquoi was an RUF commander and was involved in disarmament. The 8 May attack disrupted the peace process as Foday Sankoh had escaped and was nowhere to be found and many RUF leaders involved in the process were imprisoned. The UN and ECOWAS attempted to get the peace process back on track and the ECOWAS heads of state had a meeting on 26 July 2000 in Monrovia. Defense 14 testified that he met the ECOWAS leaders in Monrovia at the Executive Mansion, a lot of communiqués were signed that day. The witness was told that the ECOWAS leaders wanted the peace process back on track and he was asked to tell them what had happened in Freetown during the 8 May attack and where Sankoh was. The witness named other RUF leaders present at the meeting: Eddie Kanneh, Jonathan Kposowa and Ngulu Baka.

After the meeting, the ECOWAS leaders instructed them to go to Kono to Issa Sesay, who was the RUF battlefield commander at the time and the deputy to Foday Sankoh. The RUF held a meeting in Kono in late 2000. They decided to elect Issa Sesay as the interim leader of the RUF to continue disarmament. Gibril Massaquoi was elected to the external delegation after this meeting in Kono. This delegation consisted of Defense 14, Gibril Massaquoi and Abdul Razack. They were given a mandate to ensure that the ceasefire remain in place and the disarmament process get back on track. The delegation was stationed in Monrovia. They got to Monrovia in 2000 near the end of the dry season. Their task was to agree on details with the ECOWAS heads of state and to communicate with the RUF leaders on the field in Kono and Makeni, which the witness described as a ‘diplomatic role’.

The delegation communicated with the RUF in Sierra Leone through a satellite phone. They lived in a guest house in Lower Congo Town and later moved further up Congo Town to another apartment. The witness named the people living in the guest house: himself, Abdul Razak, Gibril Massaquoi and one of Gibril’s friends, Defense 13. There were no employees at the guest house. The delegation lived there from 2000 until 2001. After a few months, they moved to another apartment. There were also other people staying in the guest house, such as a woman called [REDACTED], a friend of a radio operator who was also staying there. In the second house, Defense 14 lived with Abdul Razak, Gibril Massaquoi and Defense 13. They stayed there for three to four months.

Defense 14 testified about the trips that the delegation took abroad. Their first trip was to Mali in late 2000, they went to meet the President of Mali. Gibril Massaquoi was the head of the delegation. They travelled from Monrovia to Mali. This was the only trip they took abroad while staying in Monrovia, it lasted for one day. The witness explained that Abuja I was a ceasefire agreement signed in November 2000. Gibril Massaquoi was part of the delegation that went to Abuja. They flew from Monrovia to Abuja and stayed for two days. After that, they had a meeting with the ECOWAS secretariat and the government of Sierra Leone. According to Defense 14, the meeting in Mali resulted in the Abuja I agreement. Massaquoi took part in both trips. While Massaquoi was the head of the delegation in Mali, the head of the delegation in Abuja was Jonathan Kposowa.

The delegation met with Charles Taylor while staying in Monrovia. Defense 14 testified that they met him twice. The first trip the delegation took to Sierra Leone after coming to Monrovia was after the meeting with the ECOWAS heads of state on 26 July 2000. The witness had never travelled to Sierra Leone from Monrovia with Massaquoi and did not know if Massaquoi had ever done so. While they were staying in Monrovia, they met every day as they lived in the same house, their rooms were opposite each other and they ate breakfast and dinner together.

Defense 14 knew of Defense 09, he was an RUF fighter. Defense 09 used to live in the first guest house, but he had no specific tasks, he used to come and go. The witness did not see Defense 09 a lot in Monrovia, estimating that he saw him once a week. He was not aware of Defense 09 travelling with Gibril Massaquoi. Defense 09 did not visit the second guest house.

According to the witness, Defense 13 was a friend of Massaquoi, describing her as a ‘personal friend’. He was aware that she had gotten pregnant at some point but could not estimate when: ‘I was not concerned about that, it was their privacy, I did not pay attention. I have my own privacy’.

The witness testified that after Abuja I, the external delegation, including Massaquoi, travelled to Sierra Leone. They stayed in Freetown until Abuja II in May 2001. He explained that they were in Freetown because most of the results were to be implemented there, not in Monrovia. He did not know if Massaquoi went to Monrovia during this time they were staying in Freetown. Defense 14 explained that Benjamin Yeaten worked for Charles Taylor, he was in the President’s Special Service and was in charge of intelligence. The witness testified that neither he, nor the external delegation, met Benjamin Yeaten in Monrovia. He was not aware of Defense 09 meeting with Yeaten either. He was not aware of Massaquoi ever travelling with Benjamin Yeaten to Lofa.

Defense 14 explained that the delegation did not stay in Monrovia after moving out of the second guest house. They returned to Sierra Leone by land. They drove on pickups through Voinjama and onwards to Sierra Leone. At the time, there was no fighting in Voinjama or Lofa. There had been some fighting before in Voinjama, but the witness was not aware of any fighting occurring after they had travelled back to Sierra Leone. The witness settled in Patton Street in Freetown and Massaquoi lived in Thunder Hills, in Kissi. This was in 2001. Peace had been declared in Sierra Leone and disarmament was underway. Defense 14 met Massaquoi while he was living in Kissi, Massaquoi was living with his family. He also met Defense 13 twice in Freetown in 2002. He was not aware whether Defense 13 and Massaquoi were in contact at the time.

After the signing of Abuja I, Defense 14 worked on the disarmament process in Sierra Leone. The RUF participated in tripartite meetings with the UN, ECOWAS and Sierra Leonean government. These meetings were held monthly in Freetown, and Massaquoi participated in all of them. The RUF was completely disarmed by late 2003, after peace had been declared in Sierra Leone. According to Defense 14, Massaquoi lived exclusively in Freetown after the delegation returned from Monrovia. At some point, he was evacuated by the UN and taken to a safe house. After the peace negotiations had been completed by late 2002, both Defense 14 and Gibril Massaquoi were in Freetown. Gibril Massaquoi was in Freetown and had been taken to a safe house. After the end of the war, the RUF became a political party, the RUFP. Defense 14 and Gibril Massaquoi both participated in the foundation of this party, Massaquoi was the spokesman for the party. The witness was not aware of Massaquoi doing anything else at the time.

According to Defense 14, Gibril Massaquoi had the code name ‘Wild Fire’ that was used during the war in Sierra Leone. He also had the nickname ‘Gibo’ or ‘Giro’. The witness knew Sam Bockarie, he had met him in Liberia. Sam Bockarie was dismissed from the RUF in 2000, before the 8 May attack. The witness recalled that Bockarie had a bitter quarrel with the leader Foday Sankoh. Sankoh said that Bockarie was not following his orders and he fired Bockarie from the RUF. Bockarie was to be arrested, so fled to Monrovia. He had some troops with him, but the witness could not tell how many men he commanded in total. Gibril Massaquoi did not come to Liberia with Sam Bockarie.

The prosecution questions Defense 14

The prosecution began by asking about Gibril Massaquoi’s role as an RUF commander in late 1999. Defense 14 testified that Massaquoi was a battalion commander and he had his own troops under his command. He carried a weapon, as commanders do. When they were working together at Sankoh’s office in Freetown, Massaquoi relayed orders to the front, the areas under RUF control. Massaquoi used a radio to relay these orders from the office. Massaquoi did not have a satellite phone at the time. He would sometimes use Sankoh’s satellite phone, if the radio was not working.

Defense 14 testified that the delegation was stationed in Monrovia to engage with external and international actors, such as the ECOWAS heads of state. Charles Taylor was requested by the UN to mediate peace in Sierra Leone. According to the witness, ECOWAS decided to place the RUF delegation in Monrovia and they gave the delegation its mandate. He estimated that this decision was the consensus of the five ECOWAS heads of state, including Taylor. The delegation had to work with ECOWAS to bring the peace process back on track was because the 8 May attack had derailed it. The RUF did not respond militarily, or in any other way, to the attack, and they were not discouraged from continuing disarmament as the process was already underway. The witness explained that the attack on Sankoh’s house derailed the peace process because the RUF leader was nowhere to be found. Without a leader, things didn’t move forward. According to Defense 14, the attack occurred because the RUF had been fighting with some UN peacekeepers before and had arrested some of them. He stated that both the RUF attacking the peacekeepers and the attack on 8 May contributed to the peace process being threatened. He could not say how many peacekeepers were captured by the RUF, but agreed that there could have been hundreds of them. He could not say what happened to the peacekeepers.

The witness confirmed that he came to Monrovia after the 8 May attack, while Gibril Massaquoi went to Makeni. The rest of the delegation came to Monrovia after the meeting with the ECOWAS heads of state on 26 July 2000. The witness and Gibril Massaquoi returned to Sierra Leone together in 2001. He could not remember exactly when, but it was in early 2001. The prosecution pointed out that the witness had testified in the lower court that they had left Monrovia in early 2001 but then, after reviewing his statement to the Finnish police, had said that they left in late 2001 or early 2002. The witness responded that they left in 2001 before Abuja II, as they were in Freetown before Abuja II. Gibril Massaquoi had not told him that he would have been in Monrovia in summer 2001. Defense 14 testified that when they both left Monrovia, there was no fighting going on in Liberia. They went to Sierra Leone by land through Voinjama, Lofa. When they came to Monrovia in 2000, there was no fighting there. There were a few skirmishes in the countryside, in Lofa county. LURD had attacked government troops and were being pushed back and forth. The witness was not aware of the RUF participating in these skirmishes. He was not aware of the RUF fighting or being militarily active in Liberia.

Defense 14 testified that he had heard the name Ibrahim Bah. He was not aware of Ibrahim Bah being in Monrovia at the same time as the RUF external delegation. The witness met with Charles Taylor twice while, and the whole delegation was present. They discussed the travel arrangements to Mali and Abuja, as Charles Taylor was organizing the trips. He was not aware of any RUF representatives discussing diamonds, weapons, or ammunition with Charles Taylor. He repeated that he spent every day with Gibril Massaquoi when they were staying in Monrovia. Charles Taylor had given them the satellite phone to communicate with the RUF in Sierra Leone. Everyone in the delegation used the satellite phone. Defense 14 never saw any weapons in the guest houses they were staying in. He was not aware of any actual or former RUF members ever participating in a war in Liberia.

Further questions from the defense

Defense 14 was not aware of Sam Bockarie and his troops being involved in the skirmishes against LURD in 2000. The RUF external delegation prepared for the Abuja I meeting beforehand, and had a day before the meeting in Nigeria. They were communicating with their interim leader, Issa Sesay, before the meeting. The witness did not participate in the Abuja II meeting, but Gibril Massaquoi was there. He estimated that Massaquoi spent two or three days there. The witness explained that Massaquoi was a commander and had troops under his command ‘in the beginning’, in Makeni. When they came back from the Abuja I meeting, Gibril was a diplomat and no longer involved in fighting. Massaquoi was in Makeni after the 8 May attack in 2000. He also lived in Makeni at some point on Azzolini Road. He then moved to Freetown, to Thunder Hill, Kissi. The witness confirmed that the RUF was completely disarmed by early 2003.

Witness Soldier 15 is heard

The defense questions Soldier 15

The defense began by asking about Soldier 15’s background. The witness testified that he currently lives in Liberia and has never lived outside the country. He participated in the Second Liberian Civil War with government troops. At the time, it was 1998 and Charles Taylor was president. The war was being fought in Lofa, Bomi and Monrovia. In Lofa, the witness fought in Kolahun, Voinjama and Zorzor. Benjamin Yeaten was the chief of general staff, the overall commander of the government forces. Soldier 15 himself was a commander. They would change locations, sometimes spending a month or two fighting and then returning to Monrovia. In addition to Benjamin Yeaten, also known as Fifty, there were other commanders in Lofa such as Sam Bockarie, and other guys from Sierra Leone. Sam Bockarie came in 1999. He had many troops under his command, such as Mohamed Massaquoi, Gibril Massaquoi, Superman and a minister called Martin, who died on Bomi Road. According to Soldier 15, these people came with Sam Bockarie to Liberia. They pulled out from Koindu in Sierra Leone and came to Foya. Then, they all went to Monrovia.

Mohamed Massaquoi was one of Sam Bockarie’s fighters. He was a battalion commander, he died in Foya. The witness recalled that he died in 1999 or 2000, but he could not remember the month. Soldier 15 was not part of the RUF, he fought in the AFL. Mohamed Massaquoi fought in Koindu, Buedu and Freetown in Sierra Leone and then came to Liberia, where he fought in Foya, Kolahun and Voinjama. Soldier 15 knew of Mohamed Massaquoi’s activities because they were in the same area and used to sit and talk together about the past and what was happening at the front. He explained that Mohamed Massaquoi never mistreated civilians in front of him, he had civilians who cooked in his house and he fed them. According to Soldier 15, Mohamed Massaquoi was in Lofa from 1999 until 2000, when he died. He was shot on the frontline in Foya, in a Kissi town called Kpendu. Mohamed Massaquoi had RUF fighters under his command, he was part of the RUF fighters that came with Sam Bockarie to Liberia. Mohamed Massaquoi spoke Mende and Krio. Mohamed Massaquoi had an assistant whose fighter name was Action.

The prosecution questions Soldier 15

The prosecution began by asking about Soldier 15’s fighting experience in Monrovia. Soldier 15 testified that he fought in Monrovia. It was not Mohamed Massaquoi who came to Monrovia with him – he died in the bush –  but Gibril Massaquoi and Action. Gibril Massaquoi fought in Dwala, Freeport and Waterside Bridge with Fifty. Soldier 15 was with Gibril Massaquoi at these locations, their units fought together. Gibril Massaquoi spoke Krio. The witness got to know his first name because they used to sit and talk together. They were together from 1999 to 2003. The first time Soldier 15 spent close time with Gibril Massaquoi was at Twelve Houses, ELWA Junction. Bockarie was introducing people and Gibril Massaquoi was introduced to him.

Next, Soldier 15 testified about an incident in Waterside. He described how civilians broke into a store by the first bridge coming from West Point. Gibril Massaquoi and the Sierra Leoneans had a base at the junction. As the civilians were breaking into the store, the witness saw four to six bodies. They asked who had killed the people and were told that Gibril Massaquoi and his men had done it. They then complained to Fifty. The witness confirmed that he saw the bodies himself. The bodies were outside the store. Gibril Massaquoi also killed two other people towards Water Street. Soldier 15 asked about the bodies from the civilians near the store who told them that the Sierra Leoneans and Massaquoi had killed the people. This was the same day that Salami was killed on the bridge. Soldier 15 saw Gibril Massaquoi nearby around the time he had seen the bodies. When he saw the bodies and was talking with the civilians about the incident, Gibril Massaquoi was between the junction and Old Bridge, near West Point. The witness asked Gibril Massaquoi why the civilians had been killed and he responded that they were looting. According to Soldier 15, Gibril Massaquoi’s base was by the Old Bridge.

The witness testified that the store was located in Waterside, it was the first store after the market building. When coming from Vai Town over the bridge, it was on the right. The discussion between Soldier 15 and Gibril Massaquoi about the civilians took place after he saw the bodies by the store. The witness also clarified that he did not mean that Gibril Massaquoi had killed two people on Water Street, but that he had seen two bodies there and Gibril Massaquoi was in control of that area. He testified that he saw the bodies next to 99 Steps and estimated that they were civilians, not soldiers. According to him, Gibril Massaquoi was responsible for their deaths as he was the commander in charge of the soldiers in that area. The Sierra Leoneans, the RUF, had been assigned there. The witness had asked civilians, and they said that Gibril Massaquoi had killed them. He also confronted Massaquoi about it, who said that the civilians were looting.

When Soldier 15 saw the bodies in Waterside, the government troops were fighting against LURD. The war in Monrovia was called World Wars I-III, anytime the LURD forces would enter the city, it was called a World War. These killings took place during World War III. LURD was on the other side of the bridge in Vai Town at the time. The witness estimated that after he discovered the bodies, the war did not last even a week before the UN arrived.

Further questions from the defense

According to Soldier 15, World Wars I-III took place in 2003. The defense pointed out that Soldier 15 had testified in the lower court that he had seen Gibril Massaquoi in Monrovia in 2001, while he testified now that he only saw Massaquoi in 2003 in Monrovia. Soldier 15 responded that he saw Gibril Massaquoi in Foya from 1999 to 2001 and did not see him after 2001 until 2003 when he saw him in Monrovia. The witness confirmed that he had heard of High Command, he used to serve under Fifty and was assigned to the Sierra Leonean group. He was also in Waterside; he is Sierra Leonean and a member of the RUF. The witness confirmed what he had told the Finnish police, that Mohamed Massaquoi died in Foya in September 2001 while fighting against LURD.

It was pointed out that the witness did not identify anyone from the series of photographs presented to him at his police interview.