Taylor Concedes He Lied to Court

THE HAGUE – Charles Taylor told lies during his direct-examination out of desperation to discredit prosecution witnesses while testifying in his own defense, prosecutors told the former Liberian president Thursday, January 28, 2010.

Taylor dismissed this assertion as “incorrect” but did admit to a series of inconsistencies in his own previous testimony as the day progressed.

Prosecution counsel, Nicholas Koumjian, highlighted parts of Taylor’s testimony in direct-examination and told the former president that his accounts of the same events have been different under cross-examination.

In accusing the former warlord of sending Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebel commander, Sam Bockarie, to render assistance to the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) rebel group in Angola, Koumjian told Taylor that he had given different accounts of his relationship with the UNITA rebel leader, the late Gen. Jonas Savimbi.

Asked whether he knew Savimbi, Taylor responded, “I know of him but I never met him personally.”

Koumjian pointed out that during his direct-examination on August 24, 2009, Taylor had told the court that he had met Savimbi in Ivory Coast through former Ivorian president, Houphouet Boigny. Conceding that his two accounts were different, Taylor responded, “to be honest, I’ve never met General Savimbi. I concede. What I said then was incorrect.”

Koumjian also referred to the 2008 testimony of a prosecution witness who, testifying in private session, told the judges that when Bockarie left Liberia for Angola in early 2001, Taylor’s Chief of Protocol, Musa Sesay, accompanied Bockarie to Zambia. Bockarie was then handed over to the UNITA ambassador to Zambia, the witness said.

However, in previous testimony, Taylor disputed the idea that Sesay could have accompanied Bockarie to Zambia on grounds that he (Taylor) would have known about it– which, he said at the time, he did not.

But on Thursday, Koumjian showed Taylor a copy of a Liberian diplomatic passport bearing Sesay’s photograph and the title “Chief of Protocol, Executive Mansion, Liberia.”

“I recognize this photograph as being that of Musa Sesay,” Taylor agreed.

Koumjian then turned to a page in the passport, where an Abidjan International Airport stamp, dated February 9, 2001, read “Sortie,” meaning “Exit” in French. Another stamp in Sesay’s passport, dated February 10, 2009, but which was not very legible, indicated the word “Entry” with an entry permit valid up to February 13, 2001. A third stamp dated February 13, 2001 indicated that Sesay departed Lusaka International Airport on that date.

“So Mr. Taylor, this will indicate that the person using this passport departed Lusaka on the 13 February 2001,” Koumjian said.

The prosecutor also referred to a fourth stamp, which indicated that on February 15, 2001, Sesay re-entered Abidjan International Airport.

“That is seven days. You would know if Musa Sesay is out for a week, and he wouldn’t go to Zambia without your order,” Koumjian posited.

“He would go to Zambia without my order,” Taylor responded, adding that “for the seven days, yes, I’ll say if he was away, I’ll know.”

Koumjian then pointed out that Taylor had previously said that Sesay did not travel with Bockarie.

“We may have to determine the authenticity of this passport. We have seen many fake passports and fake stamps, so we’ll have to determine the authenticity of it,” Taylor responded.

“The reason you lied to these judges that you are 100 percent certain that Musa Sesay was not in Zambia and you did not know Mr. Savimbi is because you were desperate to discredit the witness who spoke about these issues,” Koumjian confronted Taylor.
“That is incorrect,” the former president responded.

The prosecution also confronted Taylor about having lied about his knowledge of Sanjivan Ruprah, a Liberian ambassador-at-large who was also designated Deputy Commissioner of the Liberian Bureau of Maritime Affairs. Taylor had originally said that he only knew of Ruprah but never knew him personally. Koumjian read a portion of Taylor’s November 2009 testimony in direct-examination when he was asked by his defense counsel who Ruprah was. Taylor had responded at the time that he did not know Ruprah.

“Don’t you consider that a lie?” Koumjian asked Taylor.

“I don’t consider that a lie. If my counsel had asked me to say all I knew of Mr. Ruprah, I would have told him,” Taylor responded.

Koumjian further pointed out that during the previous day’s cross-examination, Taylor had said that his National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) rebel group had received some arms and ammunition from Burkina Faso. During his September 30, 2009 testimony in direct-examination, however, Koumjian recalled that the former president had said that Burkina Faso was not involved in giving arms and ammunition to Liberia.

Also asked whether he gave RUF commander, Issa Sesay, a satellite phone, Taylor said “yes, I did give Issa Sesay a satellite phone.”

The prosecution again pointed out that in September 2009, during his direct-examination, Taylor had said that he did not give Sesay a satellite phone. Koumjian also read a May 2000 letter, purportedly written to Taylor by Sesay, in which the RUF commander highlighted some conditions required for the RUF’s cooperation in the Sierra Leone peace process. The letter, which was among Taylor’s presidential papers and among the documents he admits were in his possession, purports to come from Sesay but was not signed by him. Sesay’s name was also misspelled in the letter. Taylor said that he had received the original copy of the letter from Sesay.

Asked why Sesay had not signed the letter, Mr. Taylor said that “this might be the original copy and I don’t know why it was unsigned.”

Asked by Koumjian why he would have an original copy of a letter that was not signed by the author, Taylor insisted, “I cannot say why this letter has no signature.”

“Your staff wrote the letter for Issa Sesay” Koumjian told Taylor.

“Even if my staff wrote a letter for Issa, he’ll still have to sign it. I cannot account for why this letter is not signed by Issa Sesay,” Taylor responded.

When Koumjian pointed out that Sesay’s name was misspelled in the letter which was supposed to have come from him, Taylor responded, “You have a point but I tell you, this document was one delivered to my government by the RUF.”

Taylor’s cross-examination continues today.