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Typhoid Delays Start of Massaquoi War Crimes Trial Hearings in Sierra Leone

May 20, 2021May 20, 2021 admin2Headline News, Liberia, New Narratives, Rights, Trial0 comment

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone – The Finnish court trying Sierra Leonean Gibril Massaquoi for war crimes allegedly committed in Liberia has delayed hearings by nearly two weeks because of acute illness of two of the four judges, including Presiding Judge Juhani Paiho. By Mae Azango, with New Narratives The Freetown hearings of the trial which began in Finland in February were to begin on April 28 but they have been pushed back each day since then as the judges recovered. The latest start date is now set for May 11. “The head…

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Liberia: War Crimes Trial Hears “Angel Gabriel” Ordered Children Burned Alive

April 13, 2021April 13, 2021 admin2Africa, Liberia, New Narratives, War Crimes0 comment

Mae Azango, New Narratives Justice Correspondent MONROVIA, Liberia – Three witnesses appearing in the ongoing war crimes trial former Revolutionary United Front commander, Gibril Massaquoi told the court harrowing stories on Tuesday. The first witness, a 45-year old man, from the Lofa County village of Karmatahun, said “Angel Gabriel” as Massaquoi was known during the war, order his men to burn about 25 small children alive in a cook shop and burn others in a nearby house. “I was standing right there and saw it with my two eyes, when…

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Witness Accuses Massaquoi of Burning Civilians Alive

April 11, 2021April 11, 2021 admin2Finland, New Narratives, War Crimes0 comment

By Mae Azango, New Narratives Senior Justice Correspondent MONROVIA – A witness in the ongoing war crimes trial of Gibril Massaquoi in Monrovia has accused the ex-Sierra Leonean rebel commander of burning one hundred civilians alive in Kolahun District, Lofa County in 2001. The man, the second of three persecution witnesses on Monday told Finnish judges on Monday that Massaquoi ordered the victims, including women and children, to crowd a house in Karmatahhun and then ordered rebels of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) to pour it with gasoline…

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Witness at Massaquoi Trial links Charles Taylor to Blood Diamonds

April 7, 2021April 7, 2021 admin2Finland, New Narratives, War Crimes Trial0 comment

Mae Azango New Narratives Justice Correspondent MONROVIA, Liberia – A witness told the Finnish court hearing the war crimes trial of Gibril Massaquoi on Friday, that the former leader of the Sierra Leonean rebel group the Revolutionary United Front gave then Liberian President Charles Taylor gold and diamonds in exchange for arms and ammunitions to fuel Liberia’s civil war. Taylor is serving a 50-year prison sentence in a United Kingdom prison for aiding and abetting war crimes and crimes against humanity in Sierra Leone. He has never faced charges…