9:30: Count resumes in morning session, Judge Dougherty presiding. Prosecution continues examination of Samuel Kargbo.

Pros: Yesterday you spoke about Johnny Paul making some phone calls to Taylor. How do you know he was talking to Taylor?

Wit:Johnny Paul himself told us he was talking to Taylor. He update us anytime he spoke to Taylor.

Pros: What was the significance of the difference of the experience between the SLA and RUF after the retreat from Freetown?

Prso; At first it was not easy. We had problems  and thats why SLA occupied Kabala and RUF occupied Makeni. That is why Johnny Paul said we should work together. It was only when we got to Kono that he had a meeting with all of us and made Superman the Battle Field Commander.

Pros: And what did JPK say?

Wit: He said where ever RUF controlled command, SLA should deputize and vice versa.

Pros: Was there any difference in your experience to fight with the RUF?

Wit: There was not much difference.

Pros: Let me clarify something you said yesterday about the meeting with JPK. You said the meeting took place at Gandohun Road in Koidu Town. What did you mean when you said JPK said the men should continue to hold the ground?

WIT:It meant to continue to defend the ground.

Pros: You talked about Foday, nicknamed Ndevuyama and about his trip to Liberia to bring back SLAs. Who gave money to him?

Wit: Sam Bockarie gave him money to go and get the soldiers back.

Pros: What happened when you got to Buedu?

Wit: We moved into Bockarie’s house. In March, we saw 4 to 5 white Land Rovers come into the town without licence plates.

Pros: You talked about the route to Buedu and you passed through various towns, can you tell us the names of some of the towns?

Wit: Yes i can remember some. We crossed Baoma, then we crossed the water and then we met the vehicles that Bockarie sent to pick us up. We passed through Kailahun town and met Gbao and from there we went to Buedu.

Pros; You talked about being in Buedu and some vehicles coming, why were you in Buedu?

Wit: From Gandonhun, we left all our vehicles and we got to Buedu when we all lived in Bockarie’s house.

Pros: Was there a purpose of staying in Buedu?

Wit: Well when we got there, Bockarie came and met with us and said Taylor said he will send vehicles to come and pick us up. So we were there after a week or two, we saw about four to five vehicles come into Buedu.

Pros: So when Bocklarie said he spoke to Taylor and he’ll send vehicles, where were the vehicles supposed to take you to?

Wit: To Monrovia. So when  the vehicles arrived, Bockarie told us. We saw some guys like Col. Jungle and civilians that we could not identify. We saw a few SSS commanders too.

Pros: What do you mean by SSS?

Wit: These were guys in blue combat whose uniforms had no crown. They were from  Liberia

Pros: Who was jungle?

Wit: Well i did not know him earlier on but later Bockarie introduced him to me after i was removed from prison.

Pros: Who did Bockarie say Jungle was?

Wit: They were all sitting like the judges here, he introduced all of them to me. He showed me Jungle, Gen. Ibrahim, Keita, Mohamed Sekou Toure. When the vehicles came, JPK told us to get ready to leave with the family members. So i took my towel to go get shower. I had shower and was on my way back to the town when the RUF guys put me under gun point. They just came from the bush and arrested me. They said their master said they should arreest me. That was Bockarie. On our way to town, they had beaten me, causing me injuries. As we got to town, when we got to the first house, we met Sesay, Mike Lamin, Eldred Collins and other RUF commanders. They brouht me to them and they asked that i turn over all diamonds. I told them i had no diamonds and so they ordered their security to flog my. I tried talking to them that i had no diamonds. They said they should kill me. They tied me to a stick and Issa said they should untie me. When they brought me, JPK asked what was happening. Mike Lamin pointed a gun at him and asked him to turn over all the diamonds. Mike Lamin fired shots over his head. He ordered him to get down. Issa Sesay and his guys went into JPK’s house and put his wife into the outside room. They arrested all of us and brought us to Bockarie’s place. They started flogging us. They took JPK and his wife away. They continued flogging us and some people went unconscious. I continued pleading with Issa Sesay, saying that do you remember that when you were in Freetown, i was the first man who took a vehicle and recommended that it be assigned to you? He laughed and said that was true. He told his guys to stop beating us. He ordered that they should take all of us to the prison. We were there for some time, not even upto one or two hours. The MP commander came and called me up. He said that the master had said he should pick me up. We left and met Bockarie sitting with Sekou Toure, Gen. Ibrahim, Keita, Jungle and othe SSS security guys. Bockarie told me he had sent for me because i was the only Supreme Council memeber. He said that in our own terrain, they survived through Diamonds. he said he wanted me to know they they treated us that way because of the diamnonds. I told him that each and every one of us will admit to having diamonds, including himself. He admitted. I told him that if we had a meeting asking every body to turn over their diamonds, we would have truned in ours. He asked that i be taken back to the prison. When they did all of these, they only spared the chief security, Moses kabia, aka Rambo.

Pros: What was it that Kabia was saying to the RUF?

Wit: Issa told me later that Kabia told him we wanted to runaway to Liberia with diamonds. They took all my diamonds, 214 pieces of diamonds, and JPK had more. JPK really had very big diamonds.

Pros; You’ve talked about being flogged, can you say more of what you mean?

Wit: well they beat me up.

Pros: How many seperate times were you beaten?

Wit: That was the only time, after which they put us in prison. That was the only time that they beat us.

Prosd: Where did the diamonds come from?

Wit: I mined them in Kono

Pros: Based upon your knowlege of events in 1999, do you know what was referred to as many pieces of diamonods from JPK?

Wit: Well i didnt see those until we were arrested in Buedu.

Pros: After your conversation with Bockarie infront of the guys from Liberia, where did they take you?

Back To the prosion

Pros: What happened after your release?

Wit: We understood that the vehicles went back to Liberia with Bockarie.

Pros: When you were released, do you know where JPK was?

Wit: We learnt that they took him five miles off Buedu in Kangama. That was where they kept hostages. He was there with his wife.

Pros; So what happened to you then?

WIt: They said i should just stay in Buedu town. After about a week or two, i came and greeted Issa. He told me we were going to Dawa. He said he’ll give me money to go and buy slippers and a few other things. I just rushed home and came back to him. We all went to Dawa with other RUF commanders. C.O Lion, Eddie, etc.

Pros: Who was Eddie?

Wit: He was an RUF commander.

Pros; So what happened?

Wit: We went to Dawa, i bought a few toiliteries. Issa seid we should go to Foya, on the Liberian side of the border. We went there and entered the police commander’s house. The lady there cooked, we ate, and we went to a bar where we had drinks. At night, he told us to go. On our way, we met a white Land Cruiser between Foya to Dawa, loaded with armmunition. Issa stopped and alighted. He greeted the person inside. We then saw Bockarie, Jungle and other SSS in the vehicle with ammunition.

Pros: Did you see the ammunition in the truck?

Wit: yes, when it was time to offload them, i saw them. I knew the ammunition came from Taylor in Liberia.

Pros: Do you know from what part of Liberia the ammunition had come?

Wit: I woundnt know exactly but i knew they were from Liberia.

Pros: When were you involved in unloading the ammunition?

Wit: When we got to Buedu.

Pros; Did you identify anyone else in the vehicle apart from Bockarie?

Wit: The SSS guys from Liberia and Col. Jungle were there.

Pros: Do you recall how many boxes of ammunition were in the vehicle?

Wit: No. They were not in boxes. They were in tins, called sardine tins.

Pros: Can you describe the dimensions of all of those put together?

Wit: They were many. The filled a whole room where we packed them. I cant remember the size but the room was big.

Pros: So what happened to you when you returned to Buedu?

Pros: We were all in Buedu and at another point in time, Bockarie said we should all go to Dawa.

Pros: Do you remember how long this was after you had taken the ammunition to Buedu?

Wit: This was in one or two weeks after we had come with them.

Pros: What happend on the second occassion?

Wit: Well, in the morning, we’ll all pay loyalty to Bockarie. One day he told me we’ll be going to Dawa. I was just waiting at his house. We all then left in three vehicles. We went to the same police commander, we ate, drank. At night, we left to go back to Buedu and we met Jungle on the way.

Pros: How do you know this woman was Liberian police?

Wit: She was aalways in her uniform.

Pros: What bhappend when you met Jungle?

Wit: He spoke with Bockarie and he asked us to transfer all the materials that jungle had into our own vehicle and Jungle returned to Liberia.

Pros: Where exactly did you see jungle with his vehicle

Wit: He was between Foya and Dawa but not upto to Buedu. This was on the Sierra Leone side of the border.

Pros: Was his car pointed in the Buedu direction or in the Liberian direction.?

Wit: Was pointed to Buedu.

Pros: Can you approximate the month and year that this occured?

Wit: This happened around end of March 1998.

Pros: When you were being beaten, you said you were also stripped right?

Wit: I was partially stripped.

Pros: What happened to your weapon?

Wit: I was disarmed and Bockarie took them.

Pros: Were your weapomns returned to you after your release?

Wit: No.

Pros: Were you free to go where you wanted to go after your release?

Wit: No.

Pros: How do you feel today about your own experince after being beaten and stripped?

Wit: I feel very bad, even now, when i think of it, i feel bad.

Pros: You mentioned a soldier by the name of Fonte Kanu. How long did you know him?

Wit: He was my commander in the army and i knew him very well. We had a professional relationship.

Pros: What happedn to him?

Wit: When we were in Buedu, he came and met us there. By then i had left Buedu for the first brigade in  Pendembu. I was the second battalion commander there. At one point, he came together with Issa and others and i was happy to see them. They left me there and after some time, Issa said he was coming to stay at Pendembu. He had given Fonte Kanu an XL Bike to use. At one time, i left Kuiva and came back to Pendembu, Issa’s bodyguards came and met me at home and said Issa wanted to see me. I went. I met Mike Lamin, Issa and other RUF commanders. Fonte Kanu was seated on the ground. Issa told me that Fonte Kanu had tried to surrender to some UN agencies at Vahun. He said the Liberian police called him and told him that. He said they arrested him. Issa asked me what to do with him, Mike Lamin said they should kill him. He fired him in the leg. Issa fired the next leg. They fired his hands as well and he was on the ground helpless. They ordered the body guards to finish him. The bodyguards shot him. Issa ordered that he be thrown away. He was dumped into a well. Issa said if he’d done this to his own relative, then he’ll not spare any other person. I really felt bad about this especially looking at the way he was killed.

Pros; What do you mean he was dragged?

Wit: They dragged his feet and dumped him in the pit.

Pros: Who actually shot Fonte Kanu?

Wit: Mike Lamin fired the first shot, followed by Issa and they commanded the bodyguards to finish him.

Pros: What did Issa tell you about how Fonte Kanu was arrested?

Wit; He said with all the nice things he was doing for Fonte Kanu, he still tried to surrender to UN agencies. He said the Liberian police arrested him.

Pros; Whaat did the Liberian police tell Issa?

Wit: He said kanu wanted to surrender to UN agencies.

Pros; Who arrested kanu?

Pros: He said the Liberian police arrested him and they brought him to my brigade.

JudgeDougherty: The witness has requested that he needs some urgent medical treatment. So we’ll adjourne court to 12:30pm.

11:30am: court is adjourned.