Witness alleges he and Ex-RUF Commander, Gibril Massaquoi burnt people alive

MONROVIA, Liberia – A man says he is part of a group of former Sierra Leonean rebels who burned people alive in Lofa County.

“Soldier 13,” (the name given by the Finnish Court of Appeal to protect him from retribution), said other soldiers of the Revolutionary United Front, (RUF), including Gibril Massaquoi, who was accused by the prosecutor and several witnesses of committing and ordering dirty. human rights violations in many cities in the district and in Waterside in Monrovia, including rape, torture, murder.

“He (Massaquoi) used to catch people and put them in houses and set them on fire,” said Soldier 13, a prosecution witness on direct examination. “I remember how in some village and GM (the name is called Massaquoi), and I used to be in the city.”

Ritual murder is one of the accusations that the prosecutors demanded for the appeal made by Massaquoi and the District Court of Pirkanma was wrong to acquit him in April 2022.

Prosecutors also argued that Mr. Massaquoi, an informant for the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone, sneaked out of his “safe house” and came to Liberia to support the forces of the Liberian government, which is fighting the rebels of the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD). .

Charles Taylor, who, in the Special Court in April 2012 was convicted and sentenced to 50 years for fueling the Sierra Leonean civil war, became President at the time.

But during cross-examination, Wednesday’s lone witness turned around another issue. Soldier 13, who claimed he was recruited as a child soldier in Sierra Leone by RUF soldiers, said he was part of a delegation of soldiers that included Sam Bockarie, Issa Seysay and Mr Massaquoi.

He told the Court that he came to Liberia in 1999, when the RUF rebels, who were fighting the government of Joseph Momoh, the President of Sierra Leone at the time, agreed to a ceasefire.

The 13 soldiers have told the Court that they lived in Kolahun for about two to three years, where they helped Liberian government forces fight LURD rebels on the front lines.

But during cross-examination, the defense attorney reminded him that he had previously told the District Court that he had been in Vahun for more than three years.

The witness said that “it was something he passed by,” and said that he and “the boss, Sam Bockarie were there (Vahun) for 1 year, 3 months, over.” However, he remained in the area for “3 years”.

Defense counsel also brought up another point of inconsistent statements before he told the District Court that he was in Kolahun for seven months.

“Back then, we were used to going there, we weren’t based there,” Soldier 13 said.

The witness said as a soldier, he was not based in a particular city. He said, he conducted patrols in several towns and villages, including Kamatahun, Gbolahun, Yendehun, Masasabolahun, Susubolahun and Popolahun.

The trial continues on Friday.

Coverage of the appeal of Massaquoi’s release is a collaboration with New Narratives as part of the West African Justice Reporting Project.