1:30: Court resumed after mid-morning break and defense counsel Mr. Morris Anyah continued his cross-examination of Witness TF1-585 in open session. Defense counsel focussed his cross-examination on the circumstances surrounding Sam Bockarie’s departure to Liberia, his operations in Ivory Coast and his subsequent death in Liberia.
Sam Bockarie’s Departure to Liberia
Defense counsel asked the witness about the trucks she spoke about in her testimony as having come to Buedu prior to Bockarie’s departure for Liberia. The witness reiterated her earlier position that only two trucks arrived in Buedu. She said that the three remaining trucks returned to Liberia. Defense counsel made reference to Taylor’s role in mediating between Sankoh and Bockarie, and his role in the Lome Peace Agreement. He also put it to the witness that Bockarie’s departure from Sierra Leone to Liberia was sanctioned by ECOWAS and President Kabbah. The witness responded that she could not confirm these suggestions. Defense counsel asked the witness whether she knew that the problem between Sankoh and Bockarie was caused by Bockarie’s unwillingness to disarm. The witness said she could not tell if that was the case. The witness explained that when they went to Liberia with Bockarie, some poeple were taken to Monrovia while some went to the training camp. Defense counsel asked the witness whether she had said that Taylor built a house for Bockarie in Monrovia. The witness responded that she only said Taylor bought a house for Bockarie and his followers. Defense counsel referenced the testimony of a previous prosecution witness that Bockarie himself built the house in Monrovia. The witness said she cannot confirm that, but according to what she was told, the houses were bought by Taylor. Asked whether she went to the RUF guest house, the witness said she never went there but only heard of it. Asked how long Bockarie was in Liberia before he went to Ivory Coast, the witness said she could not tell the exact time but that Bockarie went to Liberai in 1999 and left for Ivory Coast in either late 2000 or early 2001.
Death of Sam Bockarie
In response to a question of when the witness went to Ivory Coast, she responded that she did so in 2002. She said that when they returned from Ivory Coast, not all of them were allowed to cross into Liberia. For those of them who crossed into Liberia, she said they were taken to a school compound in Nimba County where they were met by senior officials from the Liberian government. Defense counsel asked the witness whether she saw anybody with Benjamin Yeaten when he came to take Bockarie away. The witness said she did not see Bockarie being taken away but that she was told by a bodyguard called High Command. Defense counsel asked the witness whether Papay Moriba and Toasty, the people who told her about Bockarie’s death, had told her how he was killed. The witness said they did not tell him about that.
Court adjourned for lunch.