PARIS, France—The lawyer for the ten plaintiffs who filed a formal complaint against Kunti Kamara, an accused Liberian warlord, says she’s hopeful he will be found guilty when the jury retires to consider their verdict next week. The defendant, 47, faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted….
War Crimes Trial Reporting
Accused Liberian Warlord Calls Plaintiffs Criminals in Paris War Crimes Trial
PARIS, France—Kunti Kamara has lashed out at the ten plaintiffs in his trial for crimes against humanity here calling them “criminals” and professing his innocence on charges of cannibalism, torture, rape, murder and forced labor….
Why the International War Crimes Trials of Liberians Matter
By Massa Washington, commissioner of Liberia’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission for New Narratives PARIS, France – The trial of former Ulimo battalion commander, Kunti Kamara aka “Kunti K.” ends its third week. Kamara is being tried for crimes against humanity, torture, forced labor and acts of barbarism, in the town of Foya in Lofa Country, Western…
Court Abruptly Adjourns as Inconsolable Witness Recalls Alleged Rape by Accused Warlord’s Soldiers
PARIS, France – The judge in the ongoing war crimes trial of Kunti Kamara abruptly adjourned the hearing on Tuesday after an inconsolable witness began a graphic description of her alleged rape by a soldier under Kamara’s command. It was an emotional day of testimony that saw two witnesses break down in tears as they described…
Convicted War Criminal Kosiah Dismisses Cannibalism Charge in Paris War Crimes Trial
PARIS, France – Alieu Kosiah, convicted of war crimes in a Swiss court last year, appeared as a defense witness in the trial of Kunti Kamara, his one-time United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy colleague today and rejected the charge that Kamara had committed cannibalism. Kosiah, who travelled from Switzerland under heavy guard, was not…
Child Soldier Confirms Forced Labor; As Kosiah Testifies Today In War Crimes Trial in Paris
PARIS, France – A witness claiming to be a child soldier with Kunti Kamara has confirmed testimonies of over a dozen witnesses of forced labor by Kamara—one of the charges the former commander of the United Liberation Movement for Democracy faces at his war crimes trial here in Paris, France. The issue has been critical in…
Plaintiff Alleges Attacks and Intimidation In Retaliation for Testimony in Kosiah Trial
BELLINZONA, Switzerland – In a dramatic third day in former Liberian rebel commander Alieu Kosiah’s appeal of his 2021 war crimes conviction, a plaintiff in the 2021 trial told the court he has been threatened, beaten and forced to flee his home because of his testimony. By Antoine Harari with New Narratives “When I came…
Former Child Soldier Again Upends Kosiah War Crimes Court; Asks UN to Hear Asylum Claim
By Antoine Harari with New Narratives BELLINZONA, Switzerland — In a dramatic replay of his controversial appearance in convicted Liberian war criminal Alieu Kosiah’s 2021 trial, a former child soldier has upturned court proceedings, claiming he is in danger if he returns to Liberia. The former child soldier was brought from Liberia to testify for Kosiah…
Alleged Rape Victim Gives Emotional Testimony at Start of Appeal of Liberian Warlord
By Antoine Harari with New Narratives BELLINZONA, Switzerland—The appeal of the Liberian warlord Alieu Kosiah, former commander with the Ulimo rebel group, against his 2021 conviction for war crimes, opened today with a surprise report financed by Kosiah’s friends and family. Redacted by a Liberian lawyer, it consisted of eight pages of fact finding missions…
US Amb. On War Crimes Decries “Corrosive Impunity” in Liberia, Backs Work of Justice Advocate, Hassan Bility
MONROVIA – Beth Van Schaack, U.S. Ambassador-At-Large for Global Criminal Justice has warned that impunity for past and current crimes remains high in Liberia. Ambassador Schaack says this weakens the country’s peace. “Liberia faces many challenges when it comes to justice and accountability,” says Schaack in an open letter to Liberians seen by FPA/NN. “Not…
Charles Taylor’s Ex-Bodyguard “Bull Dog” Dies
By Anthony Stephens with New Narratives Momoh Gebah, commonly known as “Bull Dog”, an ex-aide-de-camp to warlord turned President Charles Taylor, has died. Gebah died on Saturday of XX, according to the National Patriotic Party (NPP) of which he was a member. Gebah was considered one of Taylor’s most trusted security chiefs and was seen…
Convicted Liberian War Criminal Appeals Paris Guilty Verdict
By Anthony Stephens with New Narratives Lawyers for Kunti Kamara, a Liberian war criminal who was convicted by a French court last week for his role in the country’s first civil war, have appealed his landmark judgment. It is a decision that may see the entire case being re-litigated. Last week the Paris Appeal Court…
French Court Sentences Liberian Warlord to Life Imprisonment
By Anthony Stephens with New Narratives PARIS, France—A French court has convicted and sentenced Liberian warlord Kunti Kamara to a life sentence for complicity in crimes against humanity, torture and barbarism following a dramatic three-week trial here in the French capital. Kamara listened keenly as the judge read the counts. He looked closely at the…
Prosecution Wants Accused Liberian Warlord Given Live Imprisonment, But Defense Pleads Innocence; Claims Unfair Trial
PARIS, France—Prosecutors in the war crimes trial of Kunti Kamara, an accused Liberian warlord have asked the French jury hearing his case to find him guilty of all the charges he’s accused of, but his defense claims he’s innocent and has not been accorded a fair trial. By Anthony Stephens with New Narratives Mr. Kamara,…
Victims Detail Forced Labor Under Ulimo As Kamara Admits to Paris Trial he was the Only “Co Kundi’ in Lofa
By Anthony Stephens and Prue Clarke with New Narratives As he has done throughout the trial Kamara denied that he knew anything of child soldiers, torture, sex slaves, rape, cannibalism and forced labor in the county despite the testimony of dozens of Liberian and international witnesses in this trial and hearings of Liberia’s 2008 Truth…
“I would never eat human heart” Kamara Tells War Crimes Court as TRC Commissioner Washington Makes a Powerful Case for the Legitimacy of the French Trial
PARIS, France – The former Ulimo commander Kunti Kamara, on trial here for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Liberia’s civil wars, had his first chance to make a substantive response to the allegations made against him in the first five days of this trial. Under questioning from the judges, civilian lawyers and prosecution lawyers…
“No Doubt Whatsoever, That is Him” Victim Tells Paris War Crimes Court
By Prue Clarke PARIS, France – The trial of Kunti Kamara for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Paris took a dramatic turn late Friday as the presiding judge in the trial asked a witness if the man he had described committing multiple atrocities, including killing four members of the victim’s family, was in…
Kamara Defense Challenges Absence of Forensic Evidence; French Reveal a Second Liberian Case
By Prue Clarke with New Narratives PARIS, France – Day four of the war crimes trial of Kunti Kamara looked closely at the investigations in France and Liberia that produced evidence prosecutors are using in the case against the former commander of the United Liberation Movement for Democracy in Liberia. Two Liberian leads in the…
Kamara Admits Falsifying Travel Documents To Escape Europe As Police Closed In; Role of the Mandingo Community in France Under Scrutiny
PARIS, France – It didn’t take long for prosecutors to catch Kunti Kamara in multiple traps in day two of his war crimes trial Tuesday. The former colonel with the United Liberation Movement of Liberia insisted repeatedly that he had not been trying to flee Europe when he was arrested in January 2020 carrying a…
Kunti K War Crimes Trial Begins In France
PARIS, France —The trial of Kunti Kamara, a former battlefront commander for the United Liberation Movement of Liberia, began Monday at the French Court of Appeals for crimes against humanity, torture and acts of barbarism allegedly committed in Liberia between 1993 and 1994. Known as “Kunti-K” among other war names, the 48-year-old is being prosecuted…
Moses Thomas found responsible in US court
It was one of the most shocking events of the Liberian civil war. In April 1900 troops with then-President Samuel Doe’s Special Anti-Terrorist Unit shot and hacked to death 600 people including babies taking refuge in Monrovia’s St Peters Lutheran Church. Images of the carnage were broadcast around the world. The massacre kicked off a…