Special Court for Sierra Leone, CDF Trial, Update 76

CDF Trial

Special Court for Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone

English

A total of five witnesses for the Norman Defence testified during this third week of the current CDF trial session. Witness testimony was exclusively from the perspective of kamajor fighters, particularly battalion commanders, and centered around CDF attacks on rebel-controlled towns such as Tongo, Kenema and Bo. Questions posed addressed the planning of these attacks as well as the receipt of arms and ammunition by the kamajors. The testimony of these witnesses represented an attempt to counter the Prosecution’s allegations, as contained in the Indictment, which specifically relate to Kamajor attacks on these towns and the unlawful killing of civilians accused of being rebel sympathizers, the burning and looting of property and the terrorization of the civilian population. Counsel for Norman is now moving through the dwindling list of witnesses quickly and the cross-examinations by counsel for the second and third accused as well as by the Prosecution have generally been succinct. Concerns remain however about the quality of the defence mounted by the first accused, as is evident form the seeming disorganization of the defence team. Counsel for the first accused raised the issue of Norman’s health and the bench noted that it was apparent that Norman was having difficulty even standing up in court. Norman did not appear in court during the latter half of the week.