Latest

On June 18 of this year, Alieu Kosiah, a Liberian warlord, was sentenced to 20 years in prison by the Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona. This was a historic trial, the first for war crimes to take place before a Swiss civil court.

Bellinzona, Switzerland – Seven Liberian plaintiffs have made legal history, both in Switzerland and Liberia. They persisted in their quest for justice for over seven years, despite the Ebola outbreak and the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Swiss Federal Criminal Court announced today that the judgment of the Alieu Kosiah case will be rendered on June 18, 2021 at 1.30pm. Alieu Kosiah pleaded not guilty, and the Federal Prosecutor requested the sentence of 20 years in prison. 

On the 6th of May, the judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC) will sentence Dominic Ongwen, a former Ugandan rebel commander and a former child soldier. His guilty verdict has already been handed down in February.

We must treat every disabled person with equal respect and dignity, without discrimination. Disability doesn’t in any way mean inability.

On April 7, 2021, a Finnish court concluded the Gibril Massaquoi case hearings in Monrovia, Liberia, which began on February 23. 21 days of hearings, during which 55 witnesses were heard and interrogated by Finnish prosecutors and defense lawyers.

Today, the investigating chamber of the Paris Court of Appeals confirmed the referral to trial in France of Kunti K., former ULIMO commander, for crimes allegedly committed during the First Liberian Civil War.

There are a number of international legal instruments intended to safeguard children. These include the UN Declaration on the Rights of Children, stating that “the child, by reason of his physical and mental immaturity, needs special safeguards..."

Gibril Massaquoi, who the press has dubbed “the Judas of Sierra Leone”, did not see his own arrest coming, having so masterfully caused the arrest of his former brothers in arms in the RUF, one of the bloodiest rebel groups in West Africa.

An international war crimes trial has commenced in Finland today, in the Pirkanmaa District Court, concerning atrocity crimes allegedly committed and incited by Gibril Massaquoi in far-away Liberia.

Liberia was the theater of one of Africa’s most brutal conflicts – the first and second civil wars of 1989-1997 and 1999-2003, respectively. The wars not only destroyed the lives of hundreds of thousands of Liberians.

The trial of Sierra Leonean national and Tampere resident, Gibril Massaquoi, will begin on 1st February 2021 before the Pirkanmaa District Court in Finland, and is expected to last for several months.