Monrovia — As with the trial before a Finnish district court, acquittal hearings for Gibril Massaquoi, the Sierra Leonean accused of grave human‑rights violations in Liberia, have been dogged by bribery allegations. The lone witness, identified only as “L‑1,” testified on Tuesday that five years ago Hassan Bility, a leading Liberian human‑rights advocate, offered him US $200 to testify against alleged war perpetrators George Boley, Alieu Kosiah, Gibril Massaquoi, Mohammed Jabateh (known as “Jungle Jabbah”) and Agnes Reeves Taylor.
L‑1 recounted: “When Hassan came back from the US, he picked me up from N‑Zoe and took me to a meeting at Mamba Point. He wanted me to testify that those people killed civilians, opened stomachs and committed many other atrocities, but I refused.” Bility heads the Global Justice and Research Project, which partners with Civitas Maxima, a Swiss‑based human‑rights nonprofit, to help Liberian witnesses file complaints against alleged warlords with European and American authorities.
George Boley, leader of the Liberia Peace Council, was deported from the United States in March 2012 for alleged human‑rights violations during Liberia’s first civil war. Mohammed Jabateh, a top commander of the United Liberation Movement for Democracy (ULIMO), is serving a 30‑year sentence in the United States after convictions for criminal immigration fraud and perjury. Alieu Kosiah, another ULIMO commander, challenged his 20‑year war‑crimes sentence before the Appeals Chamber of the Swiss Federal Criminal Court in January. In 2019, a UK court dismissed torture charges against Agnes Reeves Taylor.
Massaquoi, like Kosiah, is being prosecuted under the principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows courts to try alleged perpetrators anywhere because their crimes affect all of humanity. He faces a challenge to his April 2022 acquittal by the Tampere District Court, which found that prosecutors had not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the former Revolutionary United Front commander fled a UN‑backed “safe house” and traveled to Liberia to commit rape, murder and torture.
When the bribery allegations resurfaced, Bility dismissed them in a phone interview with Frontpage Africa/New Narratives: “There is no shortage of victims of witnesses in Liberia. Witness L‑1’s accusation is an insult to victims of the Liberian civil crisis.” He added that the Global Justice and Research Project’s operational budget does not even reach US $20,000, making it implausible that the organization could promise a single witness $200.
During cross‑examination, L‑1’s testimony proved inconsistent. He could not recall precisely when the alleged bribe was offered, saying only that it occurred “about four to five years ago when Hassan came from America.” Prosecutors noted that L‑1 had previously told the District Court in 2022 that the offer was made at two separate meetings before the second phase of Kosiah’s trial in May and June, although the trial actually concluded in March. Such inconsistencies are common in these appeal hearings, mirroring those seen in the original district‑court trial.
L‑1 also repeatedly claimed a long‑standing relationship with Bility, asserting they had known each other since 1991 and lived together in the Jamaica Road community of Monrovia. He alleged that Bility encouraged him to take up arms for ULIMO, saying, “We should go and liberate the Muslims.” At that time, Bility was purportedly the Secretary General of ULIMO. Bility has consistently denied any involvement with ULIMO, which Liberia’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission identified as responsible for the fifth‑most atrocities among the warring factions in the country’s two civil wars.
The hearings continue on Wednesday. Coverage of the appeal of Massaquoi’s acquittal is a collaboration with New Narratives as part of the West Africa Justice Reporting Project.
Evelyn Kpadeh Seagbeh with New Narratives.
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