Ex-Liberian warlord accused of rape, eating man’s heart goes to trial
An international trial of a former Liberian rebel leader — accused of heinous war crimes including rape, cannibalism and recruiting child soldiers — kicked off in Switzerland on Thursday.
A teenager at the start of the 1989-2003 civil war that left hundreds of thousands dead, Alieu Kosiah, 45, operated as one of the so-called “big men” in the rebel faction the United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy.
The group fought against the troops of warlord Charles Taylor in the remote Lofa County in the 1990s.
The charges against Kosiah are chilling. He is accused of killing or participating in the killing of 18 civilians, forcing a displaced woman to be his wife and raping her repeatedly, and recruiting a 12-year-old boy as his personal bodyguard.
The indictment also alleges that Kosiah, who was arrested in Switzerland in 2014, once joined fighters in eating slices of an assassinated school teacher’s heart off a metal plate — with acts of cannibalism not uncommon during the bloody conflict.
The Swiss court lists his alleged crimes as “recruitment and use of a child soldier, forced transportation, looting, cruel treatment of civilians, attempted murder, murder (directly or by order), desecration of a corpse and rape.”
Kosiah is being tried before a three-judge panel at the Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona, Switzerland — the first for the country under a 2011 law allowing prosecution for war crimes committed anywhere.
The Swiss Attorney General’s office has said the case took a while to prepare in part because of lack of cooperation from Liberian authorities.
Dressed in a black suit, Kosiah listened intently during the proceeding and took notes — before losing his cool.
“I was targeted,” he shouted in the middle of the hearing. “I have been six years in prison pre trial.”
A witness in court said the defendant — who later apologized for the outburst — appeared to be shaking.
Kosiah’s lawyer said his client wasn’t present in the area when the alleged crimes were committed.
“According to Mr. Alieu Kosiah, one of the big problems with this case is he had not yet arrived in Lofa (county) at the time of the crimes he supposedly committed there,” his lawyer Dimitri Gianoli told Reuters before the trial.
“(He) has always been very clear on his whereabouts in Liberia and the court filings include testimonies collected in Switzerland that confirm it.”
Liberia has never prosecuted its war criminals, despite a recommendation to do so by its Truth and Reconciliation Commission more than 10 years ago. Former warlords retain positions of power and witnesses are reluctant to come forward.
With Post wires