The transcripts of the trial of Charles Taylor, former President of Liberia. More…
Thank you, Madam President.
That was the government mining. We only kept record of the government mining. We did not keep record of private mining.
That is the book.
That was the book that I saw before and it was the same book that they showed me here. That is the book I am referring to.
That book is the government mining record. They were not taking records of any private mining.
I used to hear over the radio that the RUF and the Kamajors were amputating hands and were amputating feet. That was what I heard.
That happened in 1996 when I was in the western jungle. I used to hear that over the FM radio.
I heard that the RUF were amputating and that the Kamajors too were amputating people. That was what I heard.
When he came he said Mosquito and others told him that they kept diamonds with Charles Taylor for him, but he told me that he had not received any diamonds from Charles Taylor.
Foday Sankoh did not tell me that he had received diamonds from Charles Taylor. He never told me that.
At the time Foday Sankoh used to meet me in Monrovia he never told me that the diamonds that they had been keeping with Charles Taylor were given back to him by Charles Taylor.
For Foday Sankoh.
Amphibian Father, what I knew was that he was controlling the Foya area and he was in control of a group called the navy group. He controlled that group, but what Benjamin Yeaten told us was that Charles Taylor appointed him as the joint chief of staff chairman and that ...
At that time Benjamin Yeaten used to tell us that at any time LURD forces came to the road he will tell us that his dad, Charles Taylor, had told him that he should send for RUF troops to come and help assist clear the way, so I also used ...
Benjamin Yeaten, he told us that his dad, Charles Taylor, appointed him as the joint chief of staff and that he was the commander in charge of all the other front line commanders. He said he was the boss for them all and so he would go anywhere where the ...
The way it happened was that at that time the Amphibian Father that I am talking about was based in Foya and so if any troop moved from Sierra Leone Amphibian Father would be there to receive them and from there the fighting will go on, but sometimes Benjamin Yeaten ...
At that time it was Benjamin Yeaten who was the commander who was all over in charge and at that time it was Charles Taylor's troops who controlled that area.
No.
Yes, he was controlling one of Charles Taylor's group. There was a group called the militia group. The group that he controlled was called the navy group.
Yes, he was a Liberian.
I know the name, but just give me a chance for some time. The name has escaped me.
It was in 1993.
Well at the time the retreat took place, the STF I only saw a few of them amongst us. The others stayed.
Please repeat the question.
During the time we came together with the AFRC the junta and the STF had to join the AFRC and so we all came together, we and the STF.
When I saw Dopoe Menkarzon in Liberia, according to what I heard he was working - he was working in one of the ministries called Ministry of Maritime Affairs. That was where he was working.
That happened when I went to Liberia in 1999.
Yes, I saw Dopoe Menkarzon in Monrovia, Liberia.
Well, at time I was in Pendembu and I saw civilians in vehicles coming over with their properties they explained to us at that time in Pendembu that the war that had entered Liberia was not easy, they were just killing people. So as a result they said they were ...
No, it did not change.
When I was in the RUF no changes took place. Since the time I now found myself in the RUF they used to kill people, they used to kill civilians, rapings took place, they burnt down houses, up to the end of the war. All of those things happened. No ...
Well, what I meant was that at that time I was 16 years old and after they had captured me the ideologies of the revolution were those that they told me. They told me about what the revolution was all about. And at that time all what they told me ...
Yes.
The raining season starts in June.
I recall that in 1999 when I left Sierra Leone to go to Lome it was during the rainy season, but I can't recall the month.
I was still in Sierra Leone.
January 1999 I was in Sierra Leone.
Yes, I was at Superman Ground in the Kono District.
It's in the Kono District.
I was - in 1998 I was at Superman's ground.
I cannot recall any more. I cannot recall.
I did not get that clearly. 1990 what?
The 31st, seven months, 1999.
The first date 30th, 10 months 1998.
Well, that is a long time for you, but for me it is not a long time. I was still preparing myself to come back home.
I was still preparing myself.
I have told you when the war had ended in Sierra Leone, when I was in Liberia, when the Liberian war ended, I was preparing myself to go back to Sierra Leone because for a very long time when I had left Sierra Leone, I cannot just get up suddenly ...
Well, I had told you earlier that during that time I was not doing it on my own free will, because at that time I was with Benjamin Yeaten. If Benjamin Yeaten sends me there, if he says, "Go to this area to fight", if I did not do it ...
I do not hate Charles Taylor. Charles Taylor was doing good to me. At the time that I was in Monrovia Charles Taylor caused me to ride in good cars, he provided them for me, I was eating freely, Charles Taylor used to provide the food. Indeed Charles Taylor used ...