Trial Monitoring

Special Court for Sierra Leone, RUF Trial, Update 31

April 08, 2005
Author(s)
Sara Kendall
Special Court for Sierra Leone, RUF Trial, Update 31
Publication Documents
Case or Series

RUF Trial

Case or Series

Special Court for Sierra Leone

Country

Sierra Leone

Language

English

This week began with the continued cross-examination of insider witness TF1-362, whose crossexamination by counsel for the first accused took longer than direct examination, lasting a total of two full days. The court was adjourned Wednesday to observe the anniversary of Sierra Leone’s independence from Britain. Proceedings continued on Thursday with the testimony of a prosecution investigator, who was called in response to a request by one of the defense teams to clarify an issue from a previous witness statement.

Witness TF1-114, the thirtieth witness of the prosecution, appeared this week as the fourth individual to testify in the open before the public gallery.Denis Koker was a former SLA member, and his testimony focused on the actions of the combined RUF/AFRC “junta” forces in the eastern provinces of Sierra Leone after their withdrawal from Freetown in 1998. In particular, his testimony sought to directly implicate first accused Sesay for ordering “Operation No Living Thing” and second accused Kallon for civilian abductions and forced labor.