10 March 2008
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The monitors of former President Charles Taylor's trial report for www.charlestaylortrial.org
Taylor Arrives Late, Defense Questions RUF Insider on Time in Liberia, Payments by Court
The Charles Taylor trial resumed this morning - but in the absence of the accused and of the prosecutor in charge of re-examining the current witness, Shyamala Alegendra.
According to defense counsel, Terry Munyard, he had received conflicting reports about Taylor's absence from court. He understood that the new security escort in charge of bringing Taylor to court had subjected the former Liberian president to an "intimate search of considerable intrusion and considerable pain". Munyard said this was the first time it had been done, and Taylor objected. Munyard told the court that Taylor was "humiliated" and "perfectly willing to come to court" if this behavior stopped. According to reports he received from the International Criminal Court (ICC) ICC security personnel, the security escort decided not to persist with the search and that Taylor was on his way to court. Munyard asked that the court wait to start the trial until Taylor's arrival. He noted Taylor had been cooperative every day since the restart of the trial and before that also.
Munyard told the court that Taylor was set to arrive at the ICC in two minutes. He asked the court to adjourn to take instructions privately from Taylor as Munyard had been receiving different reports from different people about the security incident this morning.
Meanwhile Prosecution lawyer, Shyamala Alegendra, who had conducted the examination of the current RUF insider witness, Mustapha Marvin Mansaray, was also absent from court. Justice Doherty asked her colleague, Mohamed Bangura, to explain.
Bangura said that she was scheduled to return to Freetown today and had expected the witness to have been finished by yesterday. Alegendra, who is based in Freetown, was prepared to stay when Mansaray's cross examination was not finished yesterday, until she found out that if she could not return to Freetown for two weeks if she did not return last night. Bangura passed on her apologies to the court for not seeking leave from the court in person to be absent today, and also applied for Bangura to take over from Alegendra.
As Bangura spoke, Taylor arrived wearing a blue suit, blue tie and white shirt.
After a short reply by Munyard (who did not criticize Alegendra for misjudging the time for the witness but also expressed surprise that she would not be able to go to Freetown for two weeks) and the court adjourned to allow Munyard to take instructions from Taylor.
Adjournment.
When the court resumed its session, Munyard confirmed that Taylor had been subjected to intrusive search, and he insisted on coming to court. It was the security officers who said they would not take him to court. Taylor asked a guard to call the Chief of Detention and insist that Taylor be bought to court, but not subjected to this search. The search was called off, and Taylor arrived seven minutes after the court sat. Munyard also reminded the court that Taylor came to court last week when it was clear that Taylor was not 100 percent well. He continued to site in court, until he accepted that he had to go back to the prison to get assistance.
Munyard then turned to continue his cross examination of Mansaray. Mansaray sat in court in a grey button down shirt with his hands resting on his desk before him.
Following is a basic account of the discussion that followed (which should be checked against the actual transcript for accuracy):
Def: Going to ask you to look at a map.
(The map was distributed to the bench and a color copy to the witness. Then a separate map was distributed, with one in A4 size distributed to the court, and a larger A3 one given to the witness).
I ask you to look at the color copy map of Liberia. Looking at the first map, that is a map of Liberia - we can also see Sierra Leone, Guinea and Cote D'Ivoire but in box on the bottom it says Liberia.
I don't want to do anything that is unfair or embarrassing - are you able to read the names of towns on this map?
Wit: There are many names of towns on the map.
Def: If you need assistance in having them read out to you, do say so. Do see where Liberia borders with Sierra Leone? Do you see the word Mano which is near Solima in Sierra Leone. Do you see Mano?
Wit: I cannot see Mano clearly, but see Sulima.
Def: Mano is Mano river. Do you see the word Mano running along that line? So you see now the Mano river?
Wit: Yes.
Def: If we go up the river we can see the town of Bo in Liberia, and Bendaja. And above that is the town of Congo. If you follow the border along, we don't get to another town close to the border until we get to Vaoun (sp??) which is close to the top. Can you tell us where it was that you crossed into Liberia when you were forced out by the Sierra Leone army or ECOMOG in 1991?
Wit: The very first time I went through from Sierra Leone to Liberia it was along the Mano River. When you cross over there you come to York Island in Liberia.
Def: Asked witness to show where this was on the map.
Wit: The way I am seeing the town from Sulima, you come to a town.
Witness was asked by a courtroom official to move over to a map - he moved chairs to point on the map.
Wit: I'm not seeing the town York Island on the Liberian side.
Def: The town of York Island is somewhere near Bendaja?
Wit: I cannot say. I did not go there. So I wouldn't be able to tell you the geographical area where it was located.
Def: did you go to any towns in Liberia in 1991?
Wit: When I left York Island, I used a dusty route - used by RUF and AFRC to go to Tinne.
Def: Can you show us where Tinne is on the map?
Wit: Tinne I cannot see it on the map, but in Grand Cape Mount County.
Def: This is the map with the largest number of names we've been able to fine.
Wit: I cannot see as I cannot see Tinne on the map. And as I told you, I'm not clear on geographical areas of Liberia.
Def: Are you saying you did not go to any other towns?
Wit: Went to Bommy Hills, went to Tinne, and went back to Sierra Leone.
Def: Used the highway to cross into Sierra Leone at Bo waterside in Liberia. Do you see a pink line going from Bo across Grand Cape Mount Country to a town called Clay? Can you look at the box in left hand corner and it gives an indication on what lines are. There is a pink line there that is described as being a road.
Can you help us with the spelling of the place that you mentioned? (witness had earlier described towns which he had gone through to get to or from Liberia)
Wit: Mano Gbendeh.
Pros: The other name that came after Bo Waterside?
Wit: Gendema.
Def: Can you tell us where those two places are by looking at the map?
Wit: Mano Gbendeh is across from York Island. Gendema is at the bottom of the bridge at the Bo Waterside.
Justice Sebutinde: Helpful if the witness would circle it on the map.
Def: Are you able to indicate on this map where Mano Gbendeh is on the map?
Wit: If it was a larger map with all the names, but with this I cannot.
Def: Is Mano Gbendeh south of the town of Congo, nearer to the ocean?
Wit: Mano Gbendeh is very close to the sea.
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