Rebels to summon 300 witnesses
2007-09-27 07:18
Freetown - Three former Sierra Leonean rebel chiefs will call in nearly 300 defence witnesses after their war crimes trial resumes next week, a court has heard.
Issa Hassan Sesay, 37, Morris Kallon, 43, and Augustine Gbao, 59, of the notorious Revolutionary United Front rebel group were on trial at a United Nations-backed tribunal here for atrocities during the savage 10-year war, which ended in 2001.
The RUF was the main force behind Sierra Leone's war, among the most gruesome in modern history, which left at least 120 000 dead and thousands more without arms or legs, ears or noses.
It was allegedly backed by Liberia's ex-leader Charles Taylor, in exchange for the so-called "blood diamonds".
The three defendants would call a total of 287 core witnesses when trial resumes on October 04, said Judge Bankole Thompson.
The trial started in July 2004 and the prosecution closed its case after 182 trial days in August last year after calling 86 witnesses. The defence case opened in May this year and adjourned in June.
The international tribunal in Freetown - created in January 2002 by a treaty between the Sierra Leone government and the United Nations - was charged with prosecuting those responsible for atrocities committed during the war.
So far, it had jailed three former commanders of a rebel faction, Armed Forces Revolutionary Council, for between 45 and 50 years.