VIDEO: As the first trial of a Liberian for war crimes committed during the civil war begins, we talk with his alleged victims.

With the historic war crimes trial of Liberian rebel commander Alieu Kosiah under way in Switzerland, TV reporter Anthony Stephens and cameraman Harry Browne explore Kosiah’s alleged violence. They capture the firsthand accounts of atrocities from the relatives of victims. These survivors have been waiting for nearly three decades for justice. Kosiah is the first accused Liberian war criminal to face trial for war crimes committed in the Liberian civil war. The trial in Switzerland is one of the first European trials of war criminals in exile under the principal of “universal jurisdiction.”

This piece originally aired on Power TV as part of the West Africa Justice Reporting Project.