Trial Monitoring

Special Court for Sierra Leone, CDF Trial, Update 12

November 12, 2004
Author(s)
Michelle Staggs
Special Court for Sierra Leone, CDF Trial, Update 12
Publication Documents
Case or Series

CDF Trial

Case or Series

Special Court for Sierra Leone

Country

Sierra Leone

Language

English

As the third trial session continues, the Prosecution called a further six witnesses in the CDF case this week, bringing the total number of witnesses called thus far to twenty-six. All of the witnesses testified to events that occurred in the Bonthe District and surrounding riverine areas during the period from mid-1997 till the end of 1998 and testimony centered, in particular, on the initial Kamajor invasion of Bonthe Town on 15 September 1997 and the subsequent mid-February 1998 attacks.

A large proportion of the testimony given this week inferred that the third accused, Allieu Kondewa, had knowledge of, and (in certain instances) control over, the alleged widespread and systematic attacks on the civilian population in Bonthe during this period, and while each of the first and second accused were also implicated, at certain points, as being at the apex of the Kamajor command structure, the testimony relating to Kondewa formed a more prominent part of this week’s proceedings. Defense counsel seemed to be launching the counter-argument that, while Kondewa had knowledge of such attacks, Kondewa was not a member of the CDF War Council, the body that the Defense implicated as having ultimate control of the Kamajor operations at that time.