12:00 (12:30 with delay in video and audio):  Court is in session.  Prosecutor Julia Bailey continues her direct examination of Karmoh Kanneh.

 

Prosecutor Julia Bailey:  Just one letter I wish to return to from your evidence this morning.  When I was asking you about the three hour meeting that took place in December 1998, I asked did Sam Bockarie say how Saj Musa was to die?  You responded that in military terms he should die during operations, he should die during the battle, he should be shot.  Can you explain?

 

Wit:  What I meant when they said somebody should die in a battle is that we are not fighting with sticks.  A commander will not tell you to use a stick.  A commander will tell you to use a rifle.  That’s why I said he should be killed during battle.  Arms should be used.

 

Pros:  When you say, the man should be killed with an arm, should be killed during battle, arms should be used, what do you mean?

 

Wit:  Well, these people were using arms, playing with arms.  If somebody said they should be killed with arms, it means they shouldn’t be killed with a knife.

 

Pros:  What do you mean killed during battle?

 

Wit:  Well, that man was a commander.  He could not be killed while lying in his house.  The only time would be while fighting is going on.  That is the easiest time to kill somebody.

 

Pros:  You said you had gone to Commander Joseph near the main junction?  Do you know his full name?

 

Wit:  No.  That is the name I knew for him.  That is the first time I saw him.

 

Pros:  You said it was just after the ECOMOG intervention.  When was it in relation to the death of Abacha, who you mentioned earlier?

 

Wit:  This happened, it took some months before Abacha died?

 

Presiding Judge Doherty:  What does that mean a couple of months (asks interpreter)?

 

Wit:  Repeat the question.

 

Pros:  You said this occasion when you went to Foya took place just after the ECOMOG intervention.  Can you relate this incident to the death of Abacha?  Was it before or afterward?

 

Wit:  This mission took place, then Abacha died thereafter.

 

Defense Counsel Munyard:  The prosecution has used the death of Abacha as a time marker when we may not know the exact date.  Can we ask the witness the exact date?

 

Presiding Judge Doherty:  Is the death of Sani Abacha an accepted fact?

 

Pros:  It is an agreed fact.  Agreed fact Number 11.  In any event, when do you understand Sami Abacha died?

 

Wit:  Abacha died in 1998, that I can think of.  After the intervention.

 

Pros:  You went to Foya and you went to this person Joseph to wait for a helicopter.  How long did you wait?

 

Wit:  We were there for up to an hour.  When we were there it was not long.  It was daytime.

 

Pros:  What happened after the hour?

 

Wit:  We saw a helicopter coming.

 

Pros:  Where did it come to?

 

Wit:  It came to Foya.  It was flying over Foya.

 

Pros:  Did it continue to fly over Foya or do something else?

 

Wit:  It was looking for the location to land. 

 

Pros:  Did it land?

 

Wit:  Yes.

 

Pros:  Where did it land?

 

Wit:  Foya air field.

 

Pros:  What did you do after it landed?

 

Wit:  We were already on the field.

 

Pros:  Can you describe this helicopter?

 

Wit:  It was a military helicopter.

 

Pros:  What do you mean by military?  Describe what it looked like.

 

Wit:  It had a green color.

 

Pros:  Anything written on it?

 

Wit:  No.  I did not see anything written on it.  It could have had writing, but I cannot recall now.

 

Pros:  Did you see how many people were in the helicopter?

 

Wit:  I saw the two pilots and I saw up to five people. 

 

Pros:  Of the five people, did you know any of them?

 

Wit:  When they came I did not know anybody.  That was my first time to see them.

 

Pros:  Did you come to know any of the five people?

 

Wit:  Yes, later.  There was an introduction.

 

Pros:  When?

 

Wit:  After we had unloaded the materials and brought them into the vehicles.

 

Pros:  Who were you introduced to?

 

Wit:  Mr. Bockarie introduced me to Mr. Taylor’s chief bodyguard, Benjamin Yeaten.  They called him Director.

 

Pros:  Were you introduced to anyone else from the helicopter?

 

Wit:  No.

 

Pros:  Did you see the person who was the pilot of the helicopter?

 

Wit:  Yes.

 

Pros:  Describe what they looked like.

 

Wit:  They were white people.

 

Pros:  How many of the five were white people?

 

Wit:  Two.

 

Pros:  Do you know where they had come from?

 

Wit:  No.

 

Pros:  Apart from the fact that the pilot was white, anything else you can describe about that person?

 

Wit:  Later I asked Mr. Bockarie and he said they were Ukrainians.

 

Judge Sebutinde:  When you ask where do they come from, do you mean where do they travel from or their country of origin?

 

Pros:  Where did the helicopter fly from?

 

Wit:  The helicopter flew from Monrovia.  Even before we came that place, Sam Bockarie told me Mr. Taylor was to send materials.  So I knew it came from him.

 

Pros:  You learned from Sam Bockarie that the two men were Ukrainians, correct?

 

Wit:  Yes.

 

Pros:  Did Sam Bockarie tell you anything else about these two Ukrainians.

 

Wit:  No.

 

Pros:  When the helicopter landed, what happened?

 

Wit:  We all went there and put materials into the vehicles.

 

Pros:  Can you remember what the materials were?

 

Wit:  There were AK rounds, and there were RPG rockets, and there were RPG tubes.

 

Pros:  How much AK rounds?

 

Wit:  40 boxes of AK rounds were there.

 

Pros:  How many RPG rockets?

 

Wit:  10 boxes.

 

Pros:  How many RPG tubes?

 

Wit:  I did not count that one.  It was just a few.

 

Pros:  Any other material?

 

Wit:  Some arms.

 

Pros:  What arms.

 

Wit:  AK 47.

 

Pros:  How many?

 

Wit:  I cannot recall.

 

Pros:  What did you do after you loaded material?

 

Wit:  Sam Bockarie and Benjamin Yeaten were talking and he introduced me to him and said I was an RUF commander.  We greeted each other and we were happy to see each other.

 

Pros:  What were Sam Bockarie and Benjamin Yeaten talking about?

 

Wit:  There was a distance between us.  They did not invite me to listen.

 

Pros:  When you were introduced to Benjamin Yeaten did you have a conversation?

 

Wit:  We greeted each other.  We were happy to see each other.  We only greeted each other.

 

Pros:  What happened after that?

 

Wit:  That evening we moved.

 

Pros:  Where did you move to?

 

Wit:  We left Foya and went to Buedu.

 

Pros:  What did you do?

 

Wit:  The materials were put into the ammunition dump.

 

Pros:  Where was the ammunition dump?

 

Wit:  On the Foya road.  Very close to his house.  Sam Bockarie’s house.

 

Pros:  After you put materials at ammunition dump, what did you do?

 

Wit:  Well, I had constraints on materials, so he gave me materials.  Sam Bockarie gave me materials.

 

Pros:  What did you do with materials?

 

Wit:  I moved and took them to my base at Baima.

 

Pros:  What materials did Sam Bockarie give you?

 

Wit:  He gave me AK rounds and RPG rockets.

 

Pros:  Was there another subsequent occasion when you were involved with obtaining arms and ammunition for the RUF?

 

Wit:  Yes.

 

Pros:  When was the second occasion?

 

Wit:  That was in 1998 still.

 

Pros:  When in 1998?

 

Wit:  After this mission.  This other one was around March to April.  That was the time the LURD and ULIMO forces invaded Lofa.

 

Pros:  Where were you?

 

Wit:  I was in Baima at my battalion.

 

Pros:  How did you become involved in obtaining arms and ammunition on that occasion?

 

Wit:  The commander called me again, that is Mosquito, the same place, Buedu, and explained the issue to me.  That was what the Pa had told him.  That those men had invaded his men at Lofa County.

 

Pros:  When you say, that was what the Pa had told him, told who?

 

Wit:  Told Mosquito.

 

Pros:  You said those men had invaded his men.  Who invaded?

 

Wit:  The LURD forces.

 

Pros:  And who had LURD forces invaded?

 

Wit:  Charles Taylor.

 

Pros:  What else did Sam Bockarie tell you?

 

Wit:  He said we are to put men together and go to help to clear the enemy from that place.

 

Pros:  And what did you do?

 

Wit:  Well, he gave me my own task that I was to go and prepare men in Kono and that he had told Issa Sesay and Morris Kallon to do the same.

 

Pros:  Did you prepare manpower?

 

Wit:  Yes.

 

Pros:  What did you do?

 

Wit:  I brought them to Buedu.

 

Pros:  How many men did you bring?

 

Wit:  One plattoon.  62 in number.

 

Pros:  What did you do in Buedu?

 

Wit:  We waited for troops.  All of the troops were brought together and called formation.

 

Pros:  What happened then?

 

Wit:  We divided the number into two groups.  And they divided them and told them to enter two flanks.

 

Pros:  Where were you to enter?

 

Wit:  Where Sam Bockarie and I were to enter, Foya axis.

 

Pros:  Where were you entering into?

 

Wit:  Foya.

 

Pros:  Where was other flank to enter?

 

Wit:  Kolahun.

 

Pros:  Did you and Sam Bockarie enter the Foya axis?

 

Wit:  Yes.

 

Pros:  What did you do?

 

Wit:  We attacked the Foya town.

 

Pros:  Who did you attack?

 

Wit:  LURD forces.

 

Pros:  Were you successful?

 

Wit:  Yes.

 

Pros:  Where did the LURD forces go after attack?

 

Wit:  They went to Kolahun.

 

Pros:  Where did you go?

 

Wit:  We chased them and went to Kolahun.  We chased them to Voinjama.

 

Pros:  When you got to Voinjama what did you do?

 

Wit:  That was their base.  We fought against them for the whole day.  Thankfully, we were able to capture the place.

 

Pros:  What place did you capture?

 

Wit:  Voinjama.

 

Pros:  What happened after you captured Voinjama?

 

Wit:  We had order from Benjamin Yeaten to chase men to where they had come from.

 

Pros:  Where did they come from?

 

Wit:  Guinea.

 

Pros:  Did you chase them to Guinea?

 

Wit:  Yes.

 

Pros:  What happened after you chased them to Guinea?

 

Wit:  We captured a town in Guinea.

 

Pros:  What did you do after you captured the town in Guinea?

 

Wit:  We received an order to bomb the entire town, and that we did.

 

Pros:  Who gave the order?

 

Wit:  BenjaminYeaten.

 

Pros:  What happened after you burned entire town?

 

Wit:  We flew back to Voinjama.

 

Pros:  What happened when you were back in Voinjama?

 

Wit:  We passed the night there and then returned to Foya.  We left the Liberians there.

 

Pros:  Where did you go?

 

Wit:  Sam Bockarie took me to go to Monrovia.

 

Pros:  Did Sam Bockarie tell you why you were going to Monrovia?

 

Wit:  He said Taylor had invited him to receive morale booster.

 

Pros:  Did you go to Monrovia?

 

Wit:  Yes.

 

Pros:  Who went?

 

Wit:  I went and Sam Bockarie went, and one of his bodyguards, Magazine.

 

Pros:  Did anybody else go to Monrovia?

 

Wit:  We were the ones who went.

 

Pros:  How did you get to Monrovia?

 

Wit:  That same military helicopter picked us up in Foya.

 

Pros:  Where did you go when you got to Monrovia?

 

Wit:  We landed in a field that I did not know in Monrovia.

 

Pros:  Had you been to Monrovia before?

 

Wit:  No.

 

Pros:  When you landed in the field, where did you go from there?

 

Wit:  A vehicle came to receive us and we drove together with Benjamin Yeaten and we went to Benjamin Yeaten’s place, White Flower.

 

Pros:  When did you meet Benjamin Yeaten?

 

Wit:  This helicopter that came.  All of us came in it.

 

Pros:  Where did you meet Benjamin Yeaten?

 

Wit:  In Foya.  He came in the helicopter.

 

Pros:  What did you do at White Flower?

 

Wit:  We went and entered his place and we were there.

 

Pros:  Please use names rather than pronouns.  Who took you?

 

Wit:  Benjamin Yeaten himself.

 

Pros:  What did you do when you went into Benjamin Yeaten’s place?

 

Wit:  That is where we were lodged.

 

Pros:  How long did you spend in Monrovia?

 

Wit:  We spent some days in Monrovia.

 

Pros:  How many days?

 

Wit:  Like three days.

 

Pros:  What did you do during the three days?

 

Wit:  I was at Benjamin Yeaten’s place.  At the morning the two of them would go to the President’s place.

 

Pros:  Who would go?

 

Wit:  Benjamin Yeaten and Sam Bockarie.

 

Pros:  And how do you know that they went to meet the President?

 

Wit:  All of us traveled together.  When they were going out they would tell me they were meeting Mr. Taylor.

 

Pros:  Did you ever go to meet Mr. Taylor?

 

Wit:  No.

 

Pros:  Did you speak to Sam Bockarie after he had met with Charles Taylor?

 

Wit:  Yes.  He told me that they had come from the President’s and that was the mansion grounds.

 

Pros:  Did he tell you what had taken place?

 

Wit:  The Pa said we should wait, that he had promised to give us morale booster and ammunition to go back with.

 

Pros:  And did you wait?

 

Wit:  Yes.

 

Pros:  After you waited what happened?

 

Wit:  The day that we were to move is the day I saw some ammunition.  Sam Bockarie told me the Pa had given 10,000 dollars.

 

Pros:  Where did you see ammunition?

 

Wit:  At the back of Pa’s house.  White Flower.

 

Pros:  Where was the ammunition in the back of the house?

 

Wit:  It was very close to Benjamin Yeaten’s residence.  Where he used to sleep.

 

Pros:  What was this ammunition?

 

Wit:  They gave us AK rounds and some RPG rockets.

 

Pros:  How many AK rounds?

 

Wit:  I cannot recall the total now because at that time we did not actually go for ammunition.

 

Pros:  How many RPG rockets.  Can you recall?

 

Wit:  No.

 

Pros:  You said Sam Bockarie told you that the Pa had given 10,000 dollars.  Did you see any money?

 

Wit:  Yes.

 

Pros:  Where did you see the money?

 

Wit:  He told me there, and when we got to Foya all of us met with Issa and others and it was counted.

 

Pros:  After Sam Bockarie received the money and ammunition in Monrovia, what did you do?

 

Wit:  They were loaded into a vehicle.  That same airfield where we had landed was where we went back.

 

Pros:  You went back to the airfield.  What happened?

 

Wit:  We saw the same helicopter.  It came and picked us up. 

 

Pros:  Where did it take you to?

 

Wit:  Foya.

 

Pros:  When you got to Foya, what did you do?

 

Wit:  He invited Issa, Morris Kallon, and others and explained the arms and morale booster.

 

Pros:  Who invited commanders?

 

Wit:  Mosquito.

 

Pros:  And who explained about the materials and 10,000 dollars?

 

Wit:  Sam Bockarie explained to them about the materials and the 10,000 dollars.

 

Pros:  What happened to the 10,000 dollars?

 

Wit:  We knew the money was not sufficient to distribute to everybody.  We decided to use the money to buy drugs for wounded soldiers.

 

Pros:  You said Sam Bockarie said the money was for morale booster.  What do you mean?

 

Wit:  When you do something and somebody is happy for you, what a person gives to you, in military terms, is a morale booster.

 

Judge Sebutinde:  What is it they were supposed to have done for Mr. Taylor in return for the morale booster?

 

Wit:  The invasion of the LURD forces, when we had cleared them, and the three targets, that was a sign of encouragement for us.

 

Judge Sebutinde:  What three targets?

 

Wit:  Foya was one.  Vahun was another.  And Kolahun.  In fact it was four.  And Voinjama, which was the main target.

 

Judge Sebutinde:  Where are these places?

 

Wit:  They were in Lofa County. 

 

Pros:  You gave evidence about fighting the LURD.  Did you fight them in these four places?

 

Wit:  Yes. 

 

Judge Sebutinde:  What was the ammunition for?

 

Wit:  It was for us to bring it to our zone when we were returning.

 

Pros:  What do you mean?

 

Wit:  RUF territory.

 

Pros:  Where did you capture a large cache of ammunition for attack?

 

Wit:  That was their main base.  Voinjama. 

 

Judge Sebutinde:  So these arms were to bring to Voinjama?

 

Pros:  No.  These arms were captured from Voinjama, and then there were the arms from Monrovia from Charles Taylor.  What was the ammunition from Charles Taylor to be used for?

 

Wit:  Already we had accomplished the mission.  It was for us to bring it to Sierra Leone.  Because the mission had been accomplished there.

 

Pros:  What mission had been accomplished?

 

Wit:  The four towns where the LURD forces had occupied.  That was the mission I was talking about.

 

Pros:  It was during that mission that you captured arms and ammunition from the Voinjama LURD base?

 

Wit:  Yes.

 

Pros:  The ammunition you got separately from Monrovia was taken back to Sierra Leone?

 

Wit:  Yes.

 

Pros:  What was it used for?

 

Wit:  At that time, we were at war.  We brought it to our base, Buedu.

 

Pros:  Was it left at Buedu?

 

Wit:  Yes.  The ones that the commanders were able to see we left them there.  Others we took to targets.

 

Pros:  Did you take any of the ammunition?

 

Wit:  Yes.  I took some with me.

 

Pros:  And what did you do with that ammunition?

 

Wit:  I was on a defensive, whenever ECOMOG would attack I would use the ammunition.

 

Pros:  Was there a third occasion where you were involved in obtaining arms and ammunition for RUF?

 

Wit:  Yes.  I was involved in another one.

 

Pros:  When?

 

Wit:  That was 2000.  After the May incident that occurred in Freetown.

 

Pros:  What was the May incident that occurred in Freetown?

 

Wit:  There was some problem between RUF and the government of Sierra Leone.

 

Pros:  What was the problem?

 

Wit:  Some clash with UN in northern province.  The government demonstrated against the RUF.  That was their own zone.  That was the problem.

 

Pros:  When in May did this incident take place?

 

Wit:  I cannot recall.

 

Pros:  And where were you based in May 2000.

 

Wit:  I was in Bo town. 

 

Pros:  What were you doing in Bo town?  What was your position?

 

Wit:  We were there to monitor the peace.  It was because of the base that I went there.  I was working with Ceasefire Monitoring Commission.

 

Pros:  What was your role with CMC?

 

Wit:  We were there to represent the RUF for the peacebuilding.  Any time they were to go to RUF zone, we were to lead them to prove that RUF was indeed observing the peace.

 

Pros:  Who were you working with?

 

Wit:  There were the UN themselves to broker the peace, and Mr. Kai Kai who was the liaison among the factions between us and the peacemakers.

 

Pros:  At that time, where was Sam Bockarie?

 

Wit:  Sam Bockarie was in Liberia at that time.

 

Pros:  Who was the head of the RUF at that time?

 

Wit:  It was General Sesay.

 

Pros:  Where was Foday Sankoh?

 

Wit:  Foday Sankoh was in Freetown.  He was at Spor (ph) Road.

 

Pros:  What was he doing?

 

Wit:  It was as a result of peace that he was there.  They were signing the final peace accord.  It was after that that he was based in Freetown.

 

Pros:  You were then in Bo town.  How did you become involved in third mission for arms and ammunition?

 

Wit:  The time that incident took place in Freetown, most of our RUF members were captured.  They tried to capture us in Bo.  I escaped and went to Kenema. 

 

Pros:  Who was capturing RUF members?

 

Wit:  The government of Sierra Leone.

 

Pros:  You escaped and you went to Tongo.  What happened in Tongo?

 

Wit:  When I got there I sent a message to General Sesay that I arrived there.  He ordered me not to stay there and to go to Kolahun.  I went to Kolahun.

 

Pros:  What happened when you went to Kolahun?

 

Wit:  When I went to Kolahun, I was supposed to replace first brigade commander.

 

Pros:  You said you knew at that time that the Indians were captured.  Is that what you said?

 

Yes.  The Indians.

 

Pros:  Who were these Indians?

 

Wit:  Peacekeeping force.

 

Pros:  Also you said they were going to change the command.  What command?

 

Wit:  The commander who was there.  The brigade commander.  Dennis Lansana (ph)?

 

Pros:  What were your duties when you replaced Dennis Lansana?

 

Wit:  My first duty was that I should put pressure on the commanders to free those men, the UN peacekeepers who had been taken hostage.

 

Pros:  Did you put pressure on them to free those men?

 

Wit:  Yes.

 

Pros:  And were they freed?

 

Wit:  Yes, they freed them.

 

Pros:  And what was your next assignment?

 

Wit:  Well, after I had taken over the other Indians in the UN also came to receive their brothers in Kolahun.  That led to a serious disaster.  So I went there and tried to put things under control, but my men suffered serious casualties.

 

Pros:  How were the lives of most of your men lost?

 

Wit:  Well, we did not expect that kind of battle to confront us.  They took us unawares.  They attacked very early.  They raided us in the air and bombarded us on the ground.  Both soldiers and civilians lost their lives.  More than 50 houses were burned down.

 

Pros:  After that, did you receive a fresh assignment?

 

Wit:  That was the last invasion that Sekou Damate Conneh, the commander that brought the LURD, they came and were based in Voinjama.

 

Pros:  Who was it who came and based in Voinjama?

 

Wit:  The LURD forces.

 

Pros:  Damate Conneh is what or who?

 

Wit:  The forces fighting against Taylor.  He was one of their leaders.  Leader of the group.  The LURD forces.  He was their leader.

 

Pros:  Your mission was to do what?

 

Wit:  Well, I received the similar instruction from Commander Sesay that I should put men together to join Benjamin Yeaten at Kolahun.

 

Pros:  Is that what you did?

 

Wit:  Yes.

 

Pros:  What happened after you did that?

 

Wit:  Well, we went on with the operation.

 

Pros:  What did you do?

 

Wit:  We put the men together and went to Foya.  From Foya to Kolahun.  We saw the same helicopter to go to Kolahun.  We thought the men were going to advance that particular day.  So immediately the same helicopter came to Foya and made two trips to Kolahun.

 

Pros:  Did you go to Kolahun?

 

Wit:  Yes.  I was the first person to move.

 

Pros:  What happened when you got to Kolahun?

 

Wit:  We were there for two to three days waiting for more ammunition.

 

Pros:  Did more ammunition arrive there?

 

Wit:  Yes.

 

Pros:  What happened after the ammunition arrived?

 

Wit:  Well, we moved on the operation.  We were loaded on vehicles and we moved.

 

Pros:  Where did you go?

 

Wit:  Close to Voinjama and then we started walking.  We took the road by two flanks.  Troops coming from the Monrovia side and the Kolahun side.

 

Pros:  Why did you start walking?

 

Wit:  When you go to fight your enemy, the sound of a vehicle in the enemy zone would not be good.  If you took the enemy unawares then you succeed and score some goals.  That is why we left the vehicles and started walking.

 

Pros:  What did you mean that you took the road marching?

 

Wit:  Well, that is a military term.  When you stand in lines by the side of roads that is military marching.

 

Pros:  You were going from Kolahun side?

 

Wit:  Yes.

 

Pros:  Who was leading troops from Kolahun side?

 

Wit:  I did not know the commander.  They were all Liberians.

 

Pros:  What about the Monrovia side?

 

Wit:  No.  That is what I have just answered.

 

Pros:  Where did you go to.  The two flanks.

 

Wit:  The order is hit from the Monrovia highway.  We were able to capture and contain the men.

 

Pros:  Where did you capture and contain these men?

 

Wit:  We captured Voinjama and the enemy withdrew.

 

Pros:  Who was the enemy at this point?

 

Wit:  The LURD forces.

 

Pros:  Where did the LURD forces withdraw to?

 

Wit:  Guinea.

 

Pros:  And where did you go after the LURD forces withdrew?

 

Wit:  We received instruction to chase them up to the border, and we did that.

 

Pros:  What happened after you chased them to the border?

 

Wit:  When we chased them, we told Benjamin Yeaten and then we withdrew back to Voinjama.

 

Pros:  How did you tell Benjamin Yeaten?

 

Wit:  Well, we told him that we have patrolled up to the border and we were not able to see them around.  So he told us to come back.

 

Pros:  Where was Benjamin Yeaten when you told him this?

 

Wit:  He was in Voinjama.  After we captured Voinjama he stayed there.

 

Pros:  How did you communicate with Benjamin Yeaten.

 

Wit:  We had a few radios.  He had a radio and those of us who went ahead had a radio.

 

Pros:  Did you have a radio operator assigned to you?

 

Wit:  Yes.

 

Pros:  What was the name of the operator?

 

Wit:  Mortiga.

 

Pros:  The radio operator, Mortiga, was he assigned to you permanently or just for that operation?

 

Wit:  It was for that operation.

 

Pros:  After you had spoken to Benjamin Yeaten, what did you do?

 

Wit:  He took me back.  Benjamin Yeaten took me back to Monrovia.

 

Pros:  On this occasion, why did Benjamin Yeaten take you back to Monrovia?

 

Wit:  Well, he was so happy with the mission and he said we should go for me to meet the president, Mr. Taylor.

 

Pros:  How did you get to Monrovia?

 

Wit:  We used the same helicopter.  The military helicopter.  The green color.  It took us up again.

 

Pros:  Where did it pick you up from?

 

Wit:  We came back to Foya because all those other areas we did not want the helicopter to land.  We suspected enemies.

 

Pros:  How did you get back to Foya?

 

Wit:  We used vehicles.

 

Pros:  Where did the helicopter take you?

 

Wit:  To the same airfield in Foya.

 

Pros:  Where did the helicopter take you from Foya?

 

Wit:  Foya air field.  There is an airstrip in Foya.

 

Pros:  When the helicopter arrived in Foya, did you get on the helicopter?

 

Wit:  Yes.

 

Pros:  And where did it take you?

 

Wit:  Straight back to the main field where myself and Sam Bockarie had landed.

 

Pros:  Which place?  Whereabouts were you?

 

Wit:  That was in Monrovia.  In the center of Monrovia.

 

Pros:  Where did you go after you arrived in Monrovia?

 

Wit:  We went to White Flower.

 

Pros:  Who is we?  Who went to Monrovia.

 

Wit:  Benjamin Yeaten and me.

 

Pros:  Was there anybody else in Monrovia that you met when you arrived?

 

Wit:  Well, no.  We did not meet some other person, but somebody met us there.

 

Pros:  Who met you there?

 

Wit:  General Sesay.  Issa Sesay.

 

Pros:  When you landed in Monrovia, where did you land?

 

Wit:  That was the same field where Sam Bockarie and I had landed before.  The same field.  In the center of Monrovia.

 

Pros:  What kind of a field was it?

 

Wit:  It was actually not something like a plane field that was in Foya.  But it was a place where so many helicopters were.

 

COMMENT:  There is general confusion among counsel and the judges regarding whether the witness is saying plane field and playing field  Interpreter clarifies.

 

Pros:  The person who met you was Issa Sesay?  Where did he meet you?

 

Wit:  He met us at Benjamin Yeaten’s place, that is at the back of the President’s house.

 

Pros:  For how long were you in Monrovia?

 

Wit:  We were there for some days.  Four to five days.

 

Pros:  What did you do during those four to five days?

 

Wit:  After Mr. Issa Sesay had arrived, I did not know what their discussion was.  Even my meeting with the President was canceled.

 

Pros:  When you say you did not know what their discussion was, who?

 

Wit:  Sometimes I saw himself and the Director saying they were going to see the President.

 

Pros:  Who is himself?

 

Wit:  Benjamin Yeaten and Issa Sesay.

 

Pros:  What do you mean that your meeting with the President didn’t work out?

 

Wit:  The first plan after the mission was that I would come to see the Pa, but after the arrival of Issa I did not see that happen again.  After Issa’s arrival I did not see Mr. Taylor.

 

Pros:  Who told you it had been canceled?

 

Wit:  Well, it was something they had said we were going to do.  If the meeting did not happen I knew it was canceled.  They did not tell me but I knew because it did not work out.

 

Pros:  When you were in Monrovia, what if anything did you do?

 

Wit:  In the morning they left me in Benjamin Yeaten’s place and they would move out.  Normally they went to the mansion. 

 

Pros:  Who would go to the mansion?

 

Wit:  Issa Sesay and Benjamin Yeaten.

 

Pros:  And would they return from the mansion?

 

Wit:  Yes.

 

Pros:  Were you told what they had done when they went to the mansion?

 

Wit:  No, I did not ask them that.  It was only the final day that we were about to move that the Director took me to the mansion to see around, but I did not meet the president.

 

Presiding Judge Doherty:  The question is what did the witness do.

 

Pros:  What were you yourself doing in Monrovia?

 

Wit:  Well, it was because of the mission that we went.  I did not do any other thing.  I was there when Sam Bockarie met me there.  Beside that, I did not do anything.

 

Pros:  What mansion were you taken to?

 

Wit:  That is the Liberian mansion where the President was.  That is where they took me to.

 

Pros:  Whereabouts in the mansion did you go to?

 

Wit:  The Director’s office.  That is the fourth floor,.

 

Pros:  Who is the Director?

 

Wit:  Benjamin Yeaten.

 

Pros:  Do you know if this mansion had a name?

 

Wit:  No, that was the name I knew.  It was the mansion where the President went to work.

 

Pros:  How is it that you knew it was the mansion where the President went to work?

 

Wit:  The Director told me that.  In Liberia, when they say “the mansion” I knew that’s where the President worked.

 

Pros:  Whose office on the fourth floor did you go to?

 

Wit:  Benjamin Yeaten.  The chief security officer and Director.

 

Pros:  What happened when you went to that office?

 

Wit:  On that final day, he asked me to join him to see around the mansion.

 

Pros:  Did you see around the mansion?

 

Wit:  Yes.

 

Pros:  Whereabouts around the mansion?

 

Wit:  Well, we went around there, we went through some areas, and then on the fourth floor.  The first floor and the fourth floor.  Those are the areas I went to.

 

Pros:  What happened after you got to Benjamin Yeaten’s office?

 

Wit:  In the morning, they usually left me home and went.

 

Pros:  On the final day, you went to this office on the fourth floor.  On that occasion on the final day, what happened when you went to this office?

 

Wit:  I said he asked me to go and take a stroll with him.  Usually in the morning they left me.

 

Presiding Judge Doherty:  Mr. Witness, when you got to the office, what did you actually do when you got there?

 

Wit:  I did not do any other thing there.  Just for me to go and sit down.  To see the office.

 

Pros:  Did you spend any time at all in the office?

 

Wit:  Yes.  I was there for some hours.

 

Pros:  Was there anyone else there?

 

Wit:  Benjamin Yeaten was there and the signal boy who later came.

 

Pros:  Who was the signal boy?

 

Wit:  There was a boy who used to work with the Director.  Later he came and met us there?

 

Pros:  What was the signal boy’s name?

 

Wit:  I can’t recall.

 

Pros:  What were the signal boy’s duties?

 

Wit:  He operated the Director’s radio.  The radio he had in his house in Monrovia.

 

Pros:  Apart from the signal boy and Benjamin Yeaten, did you meet anybody else in that office?

 

Wit:  No.

 

Pros:  When you left the office, where did you go?

 

Wit:  We returned to his house.

 

Pros:  Whose house?

 

Wit:  Benjamin Yeaten.

 

Pros:  And you said this was on your final day. Did you do anything else?

 

No.  I did not go to anywhere else.

 

Pros:  Did you meet with anybody else?

 

Wit:  Yes.  You mean when I went to Monrovia?  Yes.

 

Pros:  Who did you meet with?

 

Wit:  Sam Bockarie met me there.  The next day after I arrived.  The day after I arrived.

 

Pros:  Where did you meet Sam Bockarie?

 

Wit:  He met me in the Director’s place.  Benjamin Yeaten.

 

Pros:  Whereabouts in the Director’s place?

 

Wit:  White Flower.  At the back of the President’s house.

 

Pros:  When you met Sam Bockarie, how long had it been since you met Sam Bockarie?

 

Wit:  When Sam Bockarie left around Dec. 1998, I saw him once and it was on that same mission.  He was the one who brought the ammunition for us.  But I did not discuss with him until after I came to Monrovia.

 

Presiding Judge Doherty:  We are in fact up to our time limit.  This is where we normally adjourn.  Mr. Witness, on Fridays we do other work and finish at the lunch break.  We will start again on Monday at 9:30.  Monday is a public holiday in Holland but is not a holiday for this Court.  We will resume at 9:30 on Monday morning.  I remind you Mr. Witness of your oath.