Wednesday November 19, 2008.
3:00PM: Court resumed in open session and prosecution counsel Mohamed Bangura continued the examination of Expert Witness TF1-358 who testified with voice and facial distortion.
The witness continued his testimony about wounded victims that he offered medical help to during the rebel attacks on Freetown. The witness spoke about civilians who suffered from burns as a result of being in houses which were set on fire by rebel forces. When asked about that nature of burns in adults and children, the witness said that the burns suffered by adults were distinct from those suffered by children. He said that when compared to children, the severity in adults was less because of the proportion of body involved. He also spoke of people who had wounds caused by blunt instruments. He said that the blunt instruments used on victims caused the tissues to go into spasms. The witness said that wounded people were also brought from the provinces for treatment at his institutions. When asked whether the victims told him about the mood of the perpetrators, the witness said they told him that the perpetrators behaved abnormally. He also spoke about a witness that he treated for whom he had earlier been a primary physician.
Prosecution counse Mr. Bangura asked the witness about the activities of combatants that he witnessed in 1999. The witness said that he witnessed rebel activities that targeted specific groups in the capital. When asked to specify such groups that were targeted, he mentioned members of the judiciary or court system and Nigerian nationals living in Sierra Leone. When asked how he knew that Nigerians were targeted, the witness responded that a close friend of his was killed in the east end of Freetown because he had a tribal marks that made him look like a Nigerian. He said the friend was mistaken for a Nigerian and he was executed. He said Nigerians were targeted because a huge component of the ECOMOG forces was made up of Nigerians.
Prosecution counsel asked that the witness be made to identify photographs and distingusih between those that he personally took of the victims who were treated in his institution and those photos taken by another individual but handed over to the witness. Defense counsel for Mr. Taylor, Mr. Terry Munyard objected on the basis that the originals of the photos be shown in court. Prosecution counsel Mr. Bangura responded that the photographs were digitally taken and that there were no originals in court. The witness explained to the court that when prosecution investigators took the photos from him, they copied them and handed the originals back to him. He said that he did not have them with him in court. After a few legal exchanges in that regard, the judges allowed the witness to identify the photos available in court. The witness made the identifications and prosecution counsel asked that the photos be marked for identification.
Court adjourned 30 minutes ahead of normal time because the judges had other matters to attend to.