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Liberia: Tears Flow At Taylor's Trial
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Concord Times (Freetown)
9 May 2008
Posted to the web 9 May 2008
Alphonsus Zeon
The Hague
Prosecution witness at the trial of former Liberian President, Charles Taylor, broke down in tears in the middle of her testimony in court on Wednesday as she gave a graphic description of yet more rebel atrocities.
The witness, known only as TF1-028, told the Special Court sitting in The Hague that there was no shortage in the cruel acts of the AFRC/RUF rebels in their dealings with civilians.
When she began narrating how her two uncles were allegedly killed by rebels with machetes, tears streamed down her cheek.
"I saw my uncle lying down. He had been hacked on his neck... he was saying, 'God is great' ... then I saw my other uncle ... my uncle was asking what his elder brother had done when they hacked him... then they hacked him across his face, saying that was the answer...[and] he died," she said.
She narrated another incident in which rebels beat up people in Karina town, and dropped a burning plastic on the body of her brother. The rebels allegedly raped small girls and killed people.
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The witness said that in one instance a boy was killed for simply taking soap without permission to wash. He was tied up on the orders of a rebel commander and "dragged like a goat" to the bush where, despite pleas that he would be taking his school leaving O level exams in the following year, they shot him dead.
Prosecution lawyer Shyamala Alagendra is expected to continue the direct examination of TF1-028.
Courtesy BBC World Service Trust and Search for Common Ground
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