Author: Prue Clarke

By Mae Azango, New Narratives/Front Page Africe Justice Correspondent FREETOWN, Sierra Leone – After nearly three months the West African portion of the groundbreaking war crimes trial of Gibril Massaquoi by a Finnish court has come to an end. The four judge panel, prosecution and defense lawyers wrapped up their work in Freetown on Tuesday after hearing from 19 defense witnesses here. In the final days of the trial the case has come down to two crucial points: Could Mr. Massaquoi have left the safe house where he was under witness protection in Freetown as part of his role informing…

Gibril Massaquoi awaits the start of his trial in Tampere, Finland February, 2021 By Mae Azango New Narratives & FPA Justice correspondent FREETOWN, Sierra Leone – The Finnish court trying former Revolutionary United Front commander Gibril Massaquoi for war crimes allegedly committed in Liberia heard from a defense witness on Friday who had testified against former Liberian president Charles Taylor in the Special Court for Sierra Leone. Codenamed “witness 7” the former RUF commander echoed the testimony of previous witnesses testifying to the court in Freetown that Massaquoi could not have been in Liberia when dozens of Liberian witnesses said…

Gibril Massaquoi consults with lawyer in jail in Finland. He watches the trial by videolink. Leslie Lumeh/New Narratives By Mae Azango, New Narratives Justice Correspondent MONROVIA, Liberia – A former soldier of the Armed Forces of Liberia has told the Finnish court hearing the ongoing war crimes trial of Gibril Massaquoi in Monrovia that the ex-Sierra Leonean rebel commander killed nearly an entire town in Lofa County. “Angel Gabriel killed the town chief and his family along with half of the town including men, women, children and the elderly, because he told them not to leave the town,” he told…

By James Harding Giahyue with New Narratives Lutheran Bishop, Rt. Rev. Dr. D. Jensen Seyenkulo lays wreath at a mass grave of victims of the St. Peter’s Lutheran Church Massacre New Narratives/ James Harding Giahyue The Center for Justice and Accountability (CJA) has filed on behalf of four victims asking the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania to find Moses Thomas, a colonel in the AFL and commander of its Special Anti-Terrorist Unit “liable for extrajudicial killings, attempted extrajudicial killings, torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, war crimes and crimes against humanity.” The motion says “because there…

A police car parked before the Swiss Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona, Switzerland. New Narratives/James Harding Giahyue By James Harding Giahyue, New Narratives Senior Justice Correspondent BELLINZONA, Switzerland – There were more extraordinary scenes in the trial of Alieu Kosiah for war crimes in Switzerland on Thursday when the second of Kosiah’s own witnesses, there supposedly to back Kosiah’s claims of innocence, told the court that Kosiah committed the war crime of recruiting a child soldier. Today’s witness, a former ULIMO combatant whose identity is concealed by order of the judge, testified that Kosiah had recruited children, including the first…

Kosiah’s trial at the Swiss Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona, Switzerland. New Narratives/Leslie Lumeh BELLINZONA, Switzerland – The final witness in the war crimes trial of Alieu Kosiah, called by Swiss state prosecutors, took the stand on Friday and gave testimony corroborating plaintiff claims that the former United Liberation Movement for Democracy of Liberia (ULIMO) commander killed young civilian men that he and his rebels had forced to carry looted goods in Kolahun District, Lofa County in 1993.

A panel of four Finnish judges is presiding over the trial of Gibril Massaquoi in a secret location in Liberia Leslie Lumeh/New Narratives By Joaquin Sendolo with New Narratives MONROVIA, Liberia – The Finnish court hearing the war crimes case against former Revolutionary United Front commander Gibril Massaquoi heard from two witnesses on Wednesday who said they saw Massaquoi murder their relatives during the Liberian civil war. The witness, now 47, detailed the crimes he said he witnessed near Waterside Bridge on the way from Bushrod Island into Monrovia. “We were inside a shop near Waterside looking for food when…

This year’s conference focused on the most critical challenges that humankind has been faced with over the past decade Monrovia – The President of the Mayors Association of Liberia, Jefferson T. Koijee, the Mayor of Foya City of Lofa  County Cecelia T. Hallie and the Mayor of Zwedru City, Grand Gedeh County Cecelia H. Jalo have returned to Liberia after participating in a  three-day conference in South Africa.