Special Court for Sierra Leone, RUF Trial, Update 81a

RUF Trial

Special Court for Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone

English

The second week of the eighth RUF trial session saw the testimony of two important witnesses, one being a UN military observer who was held hostage by the RUF during the Disarmament Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) process in 2000 and the other being a former RUF-combatant who was forced to join the RUF after being kidnapped from his village as a child. The defence also had the opportunity to cross-examine Prosecution witness Alfred Sesay, for whom the Prosecution submitted a solemn declaration in lieu of having him give oral testimony.

Both the Prosecution and the Defence carried out identification procedures with respect to Witness TF1-117. While the Prosecution had the witness conduct ‘in dock’ identifications of the three accused, the Sesay defence team requested the witness to identify six pictures of high ranking RUF and AFRC commanders with whom he allegedly interacted during his time as an RUF combatant. The cross-examination of Witness TF1-117, the 77th witness for the Prosecution in the RUF trial, by counsel for the first accused will continue next week.