The transcripts of the trial of Charles Taylor, former President of Liberia. More…
None from the Prosecution either, your Honour.
Thank you, witness. Your Honours, I have no further questions.
Do you know what Special Task Force means?
Witness, do you know what STF means?
Witness, in that trial you were asked this question, you said - I beg your pardon, you were asked:
"Q. And CO Med himself, previously a Sierra Leone Army
officer?
A. No, sir.
Q. STF then, was he?
A. RUF."
Do you remember saying that to the other Trial Chamber?
Your Honours, I'm referring to Defence bundle tab 6 and specifically to page 52 and I'll be reading from line 4, your Honours:
Madam Witness, I'm going to refer you to a portion of your testimony in that other trial. Okay?
Witness, you were also asked yesterday - and, your Honours, I'm referring to page 9254 from line 6 onwards:
"Q. Besides that reference to STF in Karina when you were
captured did you ever hear any other reference to STF in
Karina when you were captured?
"A. No, since then ...
Who is this man you are referring to?
Witness, you were also asked a question - your Honours, I will provide a page number shortly, I just need to look for it. The question was:
"Q. It will be fair to say, Madam Witness, that none of
the men who captured you from Karina and took you all the ...
Did you know what the NPFLA was?
I'll read your answer again, witness:
"At the time they were burning houses and killing people,
that was the time the other soldiers were saying, 'SLA,
NPFLA, advance, advance.' That was where I heard that."
Witness, I'm going to again read to you a question and an answer you gave and ask you to explain. The question was:
"Q. And in what context did you become familiar with that
name?
A. At the time they were burning houses and killing
people, that was the ...
Your Honours, I'm referring to page 9253, lines 10 to 13:
"Q. Thank you, Madam Witness, we are back to Colonel Eddie
Town and the arrival of the 70 Red Lion group members. You
said some of them were Liberians, yes?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. And you determined that, you said, because of the way
they spoke, true?
A. Yes, sir ...
Madam Witness, just allow me to read through the questions first for you, okay.
Your Honours, I will be reading the questions and the answers that were given and I'm referring to page 9243, lines 1 to 12:
Yes, your Honour.
Witness, I'm going to refer to another answer you gave the Court yesterday. You were asked about how you knew that this group were the RUF and in one of your answers you said --
Yes, we have, your Honour, but in this case I just wanted a clearer definition of what the witness meant when she said "boys" and I was not going to go into this matter any further than that, your Honour.
How old were they?
Witness, these boys who had "RUF" written on their chest, do you recall how old they were?
Witness, when you say they had "RUF" written on their chest, what do you mean?
I'll clarify that, your Honour:
The boys --
Who wanted to write on your son's chest "RUF"?
When you say they wrote on the chests of the boys RUF, who is the "they" that wrote that?
Witness, yesterday when being asked questions about Mohamed Bajehjeh and the RUF you testified that he was an RUF and you were asked how is it you knew that he was an RUF and in your answer you said: "They wrote on their guns 'RUF' and the boys who were ...
What was the size of the group?
Madam Witness, I want to ask you about the group that you were with which moved from Major Eddie Town all the way to Benguema. Can you tell the Court the size of that group, please?
We're happy with that, your Honour.
Your Honours, we have no objection to that.
Your Honours, I object to that question. It's a bit unfair. She's only stated she cannot remember names of villages, not what happened.
Your Honour, I think the question was where they were, not what they did.
Good morning, your Honours. For the Prosecution is Julia Baly, myself Shyamala Alagendra, Christopher Santora and Maja Dimitrova.
There are no concerns on that, your Honour.
Your Honours, if I just may address you on one issue? The point I was trying to make was that it's being put to the witness as a contradiction, when in fact it's not a contradiction.
Your Honour, I raise the same objection, which is still different from who sent the group.
Your Honour, the witness has just spoken about a group sent by Superman, which is different from who the overall leader was.
Your Honour, it hasn't been established whether this witness knows who Foday Sankoh is.
Your Honours, just on that point the evidence about the attack in Karina included the RUF, your Honour, and given time I can get that out of the transcript if necessary.
I would object to this, your Honours. The witness has said that was the only one that was shown to her to be an RUF. That does not lead to the assumption that all the others were SLA.
Your Honours, I had earlier indicated I'd be asking for a closed session. I withdraw that application, your Honour, and I have no further questions for the witness.
Your Honours, if I can have a minute to consult, please?
What is the reason?
Witness, you told the Court when you started your testimony that you were separated from your husband. Can you tell the Court the reason why?
Did anything else happen to her?
Witness, you testified earlier about a sister-in-law that you saw passing outside the window at the time the attack took place in Karina. Do you know what, if anything, happened to her?
That daughter of yours, witness, how did she become pregnant?
Witness, when you say "that time she delivered", what do you mean?