“The pleadings of the complainants are full of errors,” Gianoli told the three-judge panel in a final argument that lasted more than six hours. The defense has stayed with that claim even after Kosiah’s own defense witnesses testified that he was there at that time. The Geneva-based Civitas Maxima headed by Alain Werner, the lawyer for four of the plaintiffs, represents victims of war crimes, while Monrovia-based GJRP documents human rights violations in Liberia. It is first war crimes trial in connection to the west African nation’s bloody civil war, which killed an estimated 250,000 people and displaced a million. It is also the first time the central European country is trying a person for war crimes in a civilian court.

Source: Front Page Africa March 04, 2021 11:22 UTC