Liberia: Defense Cross Examination of Former AFRC Combat Commander Focuses on Abuctions and Attempts to Undermine his Credibility

25 April 2008
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The monitors of former President Charles Taylor's trial report for www.charlestaylortrial.org

Defense Cross Examination of Former AFRC Combat Commander Focuses on Abuctions and Attempts to Undermine his Credibility

This morning, defense counsel resumed his cross-examination of Alimamy Bobson Sesay, a former combat commander in the AFRC.  The defense counselor asked a series of questions designed to demonstrate that the witness was not accurate in his description of events with regard to  abductions and the witness was not aware of Charles Taylor's role in securing the AFRC's involvement in the government.

Defense Challenges Sesay's Understanding of the Significance of the Abductions of Ecowas, United Nations, and Religious Officials:

The defense attorney  began by laying a foundation of why these abductions took place: to secure the release of Johnny Pauk Koroma, the lack of recognition of the AFRC at the Lome peace accords, as well to ensure that the AFRC would be part of the new government.  The witness agreed with this explanation for why the abductions occurred. Prior to meeting with Charles Taylor (discussed below) the witness claimed that he felt secure in going to LIberia because "as long as the hostages were with us, nothing would happen."  The defense attempted to undermine this argument by reading from a series of atricles that claimed that Sesay was safe because Charles Taylor was facilitating peace through a meeting between Foday Sanko and Koroma that was mediated by Charles Taylor.

Questioning the Testimony of Sesay's Meeting with Charles Taylor:

The witness decribed being escorted by ECOMOG to Freetown to the Sola hotel where General Khobe came to visit him as well as Opande, who was the overall force commander in Sierra Leone, as well other officials from the government of Sierra Leone.  The Defense questioned the witness about how he travelled from Sierra Leone to Liberia and who paid for his hotel and then shifted to questions on whether the RUF was with him during this stay. Once Sesay met with Johnny Paul Koroma in Monrovia, he was told that Charles Taylor was paying for Koroma's residential facility and then Sesay noticed that Koroma was being guarded by RUF.   In an attempt to undermine the witness's recantation of these details, the defense  read a statement the witness made to the office of the prosecutor in 2003 that fails to mention that the RUF was with Johnny Paul Koroma.

Sesay testified that the fact that the meeting with Charles Taylor took place in Liberia and not Ghana demonstrates Charles Taylor's influence over both the RUF and AFRC.  In an effort to show that the witness did not know much about the peace process or Charles Taylor, defense got Sesay to admit that he was not aware that Charles Taylor was a member of the committe of six of the West African Economic Union and that the RUF delegates to the Lome peace accord were transported by UN aircraft.

The defense attorney they shifted to Sesay's prior testimony that during the meeting, Charles Taylor gave the group $15,000 USD. The witness claimed that the money was given to Koroma for "logistics and clothing," but would not concede that it was for goodwill. The Defense then recanted other details that the witness provided to the prosecutor in prior testimony only to show that these details were missing from the witness's statements in 2003.  In an attempt to save his credibility, Sesay explained that his responses in 2003 were lacking detail because the questions asked at the time were narrower and did not touch upon these details.  Furthermore, Sesay was afraid to elaborate on details while Charles Taylor remained president.  The Defense pointed out that Sesay met with the prosecutor's office 31 times and at no time prior to the trial did these details come out.

Defense Uses Media Report to Demonstrate that the RUF and AFRC were Distinct Entities:

The defense then focused on a BBC transcript from 1999 where the kidnappers claimed to be part of the AFRC and that the RUF and AFRC retained "distinct identities." Sesay strongly disagreed with this statement.  To further demonstrate their distinct identities, the defense went on to read from a series of media reports that claimed that the invasion of Freetown on January 6, 1999 was reported as an exclusive AFRC affair, that the AFRC was excluded by the peace process but the RUF was included, and that the RUF  leaders ignored the AFRC's interests. Sesay replied that they were different organization but their aims were the same and they coordinated operations. Sesay also testified that  he agrees that the AFRC was initially left out of the peace accord.

In a further attempt to show that the RUF and AFRC were not the same organization, defense referenced an article by Christo Johnson, a former hostage of the AFRC, who claimed that he only saw AFRC during his captivity and not RUF soldiers.  Sesay claimed Christo Johnson's description was inaccurate because because his movement was limited within the camp and he therefore did not know all that was going on around him.  The defense went on to read that the commander in the camp told Christo Johnson that it was the RUF that arrested Koroma.

Defense asked about the Westside boys arrest of two RUF hostages-Mike Lamin and Superman.  Although the witness claims that AFRC leader Koroma ordered the hostages' release, the defense claimed that it was Charles Taylor who facilitated their release. To prove that it was Charles Taylor who secured the hostages' release, the defense continued with a series of question regarding the timing of their release. Not only did this paint Charles Taylor as a peace mediator it also called into question Sesay's credibility and his knowledge of what actually occurred.  Furthermore, the defense claimed that it was Charles Taylor that secured Johnny Paul Koroma's position as CCP in the government and secured the AFRC's position in the Sierra Leone army.  Sesay strongly disagreed and held steadfast to his story that it was not Charles Taylor who facilitated this but the fact that the AFRC held hostages which swayed the course of events.

Copyright (c) 2003 Open Society Institute. Reprinted with the permission of the Open Society Institute, 400 West 59th Street, New York, NY 10019 USA, www.justiceinitiative.org. or www.soros.org.

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