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Sierra Leone

Gibril Massaquoi was acquitted on appeal following a second trial in Finland.
Massaquoi affair: epilogue to a fiasco
2 February 2024 by Thierry Cruvellier
On January 31, the Turku Court of Appeal in Finland confirmed the acquittal of Gibril Massaquoi on all charges. The former Sierra Leonean rebel commander was accused of multiple crimes committed in Liberia between 1999 and 2003. A [...]
Gibril Massaquoi at the Tempere court in Finland Massaquoi acquittal: What has it Wrought?
3 May 2022 by Lansana Gberie
Lansana Gberie, a renowned expert on the civil wars in Sierra Leone and Liberia, provides an exclusive analysis of the trial of Gibril Massaquoi before a Finnish court, and how it led to a full acquittal on April 29. He worries ab [...]
Gibril Massaquoi Acquittal of Massaquoi: reality check for Finnish justice
29 April 2022 by Thierry Cruvellier
What was supposed to be an innovative and exemplary judicial experiment has turned into an adventurous rush to conviction, with questionable investigative practices and fanciful historical theories. On April 29, by acquitting Gibr [...]
Special Court for Sierra Leone Massaquoi: the battle of the alibi plays out in Sierra Leone
21 May 2021 by Kelvin Lewis
At full speed over the last ten days, a Finnish Court has heard 18 witnesses in the trial of rebel Revolutionary United Front member Gibril Massaquoi, accused of committing war crimes in neighbouring Liberia, in a series of hearin [...]
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Salle d'audience du procès Massaquoi (Liberia)
22 April 2021 by Thierry Cruvellier
Massaquoi: Please hide this trial from Liberians The trial of former Sierra Leonean rebel commander Gibril Massaquoi before a Finnish court concluded its hearings in Liberia on 7 April and is to resume on 28 April in Freetown, Sierra Leone. In Liberia, civil society had high exp [...]
Gibril (Gabriel) with the angel Gabriel in the background
13 April 2021 by Thierry Cruvellier
Massaquoi Trial: The appearance of Angel Gabriel Hassan Bility was the first to say that Gibril Massaquoi was known as “Angel Gabriel”. Up until 2018, he was the only one. His testimony was the basis for investigations that led to the trial of the former Sierra Leonean rebel com [...]
Massaquoi trial in Liberia
  • Special focus
12 April 2021 by JusticeInfo.net
The Massaquoi Affair: the Finnish model put to the test In February 2021, a Finnish court began the trial of Gibril Massaquoi, a former commander and spokesman for the Sierra Leonean rebellion, accused of crimes against humanity committed in Liberia twenty years ago. However, the Finni [...]
Peinture de la cour finlandaise au Liberia pour le procès Massaquoi
19 March 2021 by Thierry Cruvellier
Massaquoi trial: the date that can change everything The Finnish court trying Gibril Massaquoi in Liberia finished the first part of its hearings on March 16, devoted to crimes that the accused allegedly committed in Monrovia at the end of the civil war. Of the 21 witnesses heard, o [...]
Massaquoi trial: Drawing of the Finnish prosecutors in Monrovia
5 March 2021 by Thierry Cruvellier
The Massaquoi Trial: Double or quits before a Finnish court The first hearings in Gibril Massaquoi’s trial before a Finnish court temporarily relocated to Liberia have outlined the controversial shape of the case. The prosecution is counting on mass witness testimony, while the defence is [...]
Liberia-Finland_trial-court-off-road-convoy_@Thierry-Cruvellier
23 February 2021 by Thierry Cruvellier
Massaquoi trial: Finnish court goes to deepest Liberia Arriving in Liberia on February 15, Finnish judges, prosecutors, and lawyers spent their first week visiting sites where Gibril Massaquoi, a former rebel commander from Sierra Leone, allegedly committed crimes against humanity. Th [...]
Massaquoi's trial (Frontpage Africa newspaper)
1 February 2021 by Thierry Cruvellier
Universal jurisdiction: the Finnish revolution The trial of Gibril Massaquoi opens today in Finland, hardly two years after the opening of an investigation into this former Sierra Leonean warlord. It has been done in record time and is a revolution in universal jurisdiction, a [...]
30 April 2020 by Wayne Jordash
Insiders: The Special Court for Sierra Leone’s dirty laundry The arrest in Finland on 10 March of Gibril Massaquoi, the main informer of the Prosecutor of the U.N. tribunal for Sierra Leone, has sparked a sensitive debate on how international tribunals make deals with alleged criminals. Way [...]
14 April 2020 by Thierry Cruvellier
The Massaquoi Affair: Special report on the Judas of Sierra Leone (Part 2) Gibril Massaquoi, the main informer for the prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL), was arrested in Finland on 10 March. This is the first time that a UN court "insider" has been prosecuted by a national court wit [...]
7 April 2020 by Thierry Cruvellier
The Massaquoi Affair: Special report on the Judas of Sierra Leone (Part 1) Gibril Massaquoi, who was the top informer for the prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, was arrested in Finland on March 10. Twelve years after getting asylum and protection measures, the former Sierra Leonean rebel c [...]
3 February 2020 by Fin-Jasper Langmack
Reparations in Sierra Leone: news from the periphery of transitional justice 18 years after the official end of the civil war in Sierra Leone, its reparation program is in trouble. While the international community provided much support in the beginning, the program is now largely left to itself.  Fin [...]
5 March 2018 by AFP
Sierra Leone, cut down by war and Ebola The West African nation of Sierra Leone is among the world's poorest countries despite its significant mineral wealth, and scarred by a brutal civil war and the deadly Ebola virus. Here is some background about the country as it p [...]
6 November 2016 by Vony Rambolamanana, correspondent in Geneva
No giving up, says Swiss NGO, after blood diamonds trial setback There will be no “blood diamonds” trial of Michel Desaedeleer, the first person to be charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity for his alleged involvement in blood diamond trading that fuelled civil war and serious huma [...]
11 September 2015 by Julia Crawford, JusticeInfo.Net
BELGIAN CASE ON SIERRA LEONE BLOOD DIAMONDS COULD SET PRECEDENT Michel Desaedeleer, a US and Belgian citizen, was arrested in Spain at the end of August on a European arrest warrant, suspected of enslavement as a crime against humanity and pillage of “blood diamonds” that helped fuel the Sierr [...]
27 May 2015 by Julia Crawford
TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE IN SIERRA LEONE – IN BRIEF Context: Sierra Leone’s Civil War (1991-2002) Sierra Leone’s civil war broke out in 1991 when RUF rebels captured towns on the border with Liberia, and was to last for eleven years, leaving tens of thousands dead and many more mai [...]