Campbell grilled at Taylor trial
Source: Agencies |
August 6, 2010, Friday
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Print Edition
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NAOMI Campbell testified before a war crimes tribunal yesterday that she had received some "dirty-looking stones" after a 1997 dinner party with former Liberian ruler Charles Taylor. Still, the supermodel said she didn't know if the stones were actually diamonds or if the gift came from Taylor.
Campbell, an extremely reluctant witness at the Special Court for Sierra Leone, was being questioned in Taylor's war crimes trial about claims made by actress Mia Farrow. Farrow had said Taylor gave the model an uncut diamond or diamonds after an event hosted by then-South African president Nelson Mandela in Pretoria.
Prosecutors had hoped Campbell would provide evidence that Taylor traded guns to neighboring Sierra Leone rebels in exchange for uncut diamonds - sometimes known as "blood diamonds" for their role in financing conflicts - during Sierra Leone's 1992-2002 civil war.
Prosecutors say from his seat of power in Liberia, Taylor armed, trained and commanded Sierra Leone rebels who murdered and mutilated thousands of civilians across the border. Taylor, 62, says he is innocent of the 11 war crimes charges he faces, including murder, rape, sexual enslavement and recruiting child soldiers.
After fighting for months to avoid testifying, Campbell arrived at the courthouse in Leidschendam, Netherlands, surrounded by a police escort. In contrast to her usual edgy fashion style, the British supermodel wore a demure cream two-piece outfit and piled up her straight dark hair into a classic chignon.
Entering the courtroom fashionably late - several minutes after she was first summoned to take the stand - Campbell was calm and composed as she quickly answered questions from prosecutor Brenda Hollis for nearly two hours.
Campbell, 40, testified that she was awakened in the middle of the night after the September 1997 dinner party by two black men at her door. She said they offered her a pouch they said was a gift for her with no explanation.
She said she frequently receives gifts from admirers and didn't look at it until the following morning. "I saw a few stones in there. And they were small, dirty-looking stones," she said.
Campbell, an extremely reluctant witness at the Special Court for Sierra Leone, was being questioned in Taylor's war crimes trial about claims made by actress Mia Farrow. Farrow had said Taylor gave the model an uncut diamond or diamonds after an event hosted by then-South African president Nelson Mandela in Pretoria.
Prosecutors had hoped Campbell would provide evidence that Taylor traded guns to neighboring Sierra Leone rebels in exchange for uncut diamonds - sometimes known as "blood diamonds" for their role in financing conflicts - during Sierra Leone's 1992-2002 civil war.
Prosecutors say from his seat of power in Liberia, Taylor armed, trained and commanded Sierra Leone rebels who murdered and mutilated thousands of civilians across the border. Taylor, 62, says he is innocent of the 11 war crimes charges he faces, including murder, rape, sexual enslavement and recruiting child soldiers.
After fighting for months to avoid testifying, Campbell arrived at the courthouse in Leidschendam, Netherlands, surrounded by a police escort. In contrast to her usual edgy fashion style, the British supermodel wore a demure cream two-piece outfit and piled up her straight dark hair into a classic chignon.
Entering the courtroom fashionably late - several minutes after she was first summoned to take the stand - Campbell was calm and composed as she quickly answered questions from prosecutor Brenda Hollis for nearly two hours.
Campbell, 40, testified that she was awakened in the middle of the night after the September 1997 dinner party by two black men at her door. She said they offered her a pouch they said was a gift for her with no explanation.
She said she frequently receives gifts from admirers and didn't look at it until the following morning. "I saw a few stones in there. And they were small, dirty-looking stones," she said.
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