{"id":21277,"date":"2022-08-12T15:31:46","date_gmt":"2022-08-12T15:31:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-massaquois-acquittal-to-be-revisited%ef%bf%bc"},"modified":"2022-08-12T15:49:00","modified_gmt":"2022-08-12T15:49:00","slug":"liberia-massaquois-acquittal-to-be-revisited%ef%bf%bc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-massaquois-acquittal-to-be-revisited%ef%bf%bc","title":{"rendered":"Liberia: Massaquoi\u2019s Acquittal to be Revisited\ufffc"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Liberia. <\/strong><\/span>A Finnish Appeal Court has upheld a request by prosecutors to relitigate the acquittal by a district court of Gibril Massaquoi, the former Revolutionary United Front commander in Sierra Leone, of charges he committed war crimes in Liberia.<\/p>\n

By Anthony Stephens, Senior New Narratives Justice Correspondent<\/b><\/p>\n

In May the District Court in the Finnish city of Tampere found that prosecutors had failed to prove \u201cbeyond a reasonable doubt\u201d that Massaquoi, 52, committed the crimes of rape, ritual murder, torture, and recruitment of child soldiers during Liberia\u2019s civil war between 1999-2003. The Court also found that many of the witnesses, including those who claimed to be ex-soldiers of former Liberian President Charles Taylor\u2019s army, were unreliable, as they provided contradictory and inconsistent statements between the investigation and the trial. The ruling sent shockwaves through human rights advocates, who had hoped Massaquoi would be found guilty.<\/p>\n

But barely three months after the ex-rebel leader\u2019s acquittal, prosecutors have had their wish to appeal the decision granted. Chief Prosecutor Tom Laitinen said they are pleased by the decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m grateful that we have a second chance to prove our case,\u201d said Laitinen, by WhatsApp.<\/p>\n

Massaquoi\u2019s legal team declined to give details of their reaction.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are now focusing on the preparation of the case. We do not want to comment further on the matter,\u201d said Kaarle Gummerus, lead lawyer by WhatsApp.<\/p>\n

The Appeal Court has not announced when it will begin hearings though sources expect it to be soon. They said a return by the court to Liberia is likely. The court spent five months hearing witnesses in Liberia in 2021.<\/p>\n

Laitinen expected a decision to be made soon. \u201cWe will know more on that in a about month,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cZizar Marzah\u201d may be a witness<\/b><\/p>\n

Laitinen said he was unsure whether he would call former Massquoi ally Joseph Marzah, a fierce general with then-Liberian President Charles Taylor\u2019s forces commonly known as \u201cZizar Marzah\u201d, to testify.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe haven\u2019t decided yet if we\u2019re going to call Marzah as a witness,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are taking one step at a time.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an exclusive interview with FPA\/New Narratives in May Marzah 64, said the court got it wrong when it acquitted Massaquoi.<\/p>\n

\u201cGibril Massaquoi fully took part in war here,\u201d Marzah said listing the Lofa towns he was with Massaquoi. \u201cHe passed through the towns of Zorzor, Fessibu and Vasala.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marzah said Massaquoi was assigned to him.\u201cWhere there was intense fighting, he joined us to fight. In 2001 and 2002, he was with us, and we battled LURD in Chicken Soup Factory, Double Bridge, ELWA and Shefflin.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marzah, who testified against Taylor in his trial for crimes committed in Sierra Leone, said he was also prepared to testify against Massaquoi. (Taylor was convicted and is serving a 50-year sentence in a UK prison.)<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Gibril Massaquoi denies that he was with me, NPFL, I would like for us to sit face-to-face (in court) so that I can question him like the scenario between Taylor and I. I fear nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

This story was a collaboration with New Narratives as part of its West Africa Justice Reporting Project.<\/b><\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Liberia<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Liberia. A Finnish Appeal Court has upheld a request by prosecutors to relitigate the acquittal by a district court of Gibril Massaquoi, the former Revolutionary United Front commander in Sierra Leone, of charges he committed war crimes in Liberia. By Anthony Stephens, Senior New Narratives Justice Correspondent In May the District Court in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":21276,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,12,16],"tags":[233,237,234],"class_list":["post-21277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-policy","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-liberia","tag-liberia"],"yoast_head":"\nLiberia: Massaquoi\u2019s Acquittal to be Revisited\ufffc - Liberia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A Finnish Appeal Court has upheld a request by prosecutors to relitigate the acquittal by a district court of Gibril Mas ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-massaquois-acquittal-to-be-revisited\ufffc\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Liberia: Massaquoi\u2019s Acquittal to be Revisited\ufffc\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A Finnish Appeal Court has upheld a request by prosecutors to relitigate the acquittal by a district court of Gibril Mas ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-massaquois-acquittal-to-be-revisited\ufffc\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Liberia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-08-12T15:31:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-08-12T15:49:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/liberia\/sites\/37\/2022\/08\/postQueueImg_5-62f67652d5d7c.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"977\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"597\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-massaquois-acquittal-to-be-revisited%ef%bf%bc#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-massaquois-acquittal-to-be-revisited%ef%bf%bc\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Liberia: Massaquoi\u2019s Acquittal to be Revisited\ufffc\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-08-12T15:31:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-08-12T15:49:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-massaquois-acquittal-to-be-revisited%ef%bf%bc\"},\"wordCount\":545,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-massaquois-acquittal-to-be-revisited%ef%bf%bc#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/liberia\/sites\/37\/2022\/08\/postQueueImg_5-62f67652d5d7c.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Liberia\",\"Liberia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"policy\",\"twitter\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-massaquois-acquittal-to-be-revisited%ef%bf%bc#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-massaquois-acquittal-to-be-revisited%ef%bf%bc\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-massaquois-acquittal-to-be-revisited%ef%bf%bc\",\"name\":\"Liberia: Massaquoi\u2019s Acquittal to be Revisited\ufffc - Liberia\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-massaquois-acquittal-to-be-revisited%ef%bf%bc#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-massaquois-acquittal-to-be-revisited%ef%bf%bc#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/liberia\/sites\/37\/2022\/08\/postQueueImg_5-62f67652d5d7c.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-08-12T15:31:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-08-12T15:49:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"A Finnish Appeal Court has upheld a request by prosecutors to relitigate the acquittal by a district court of Gibril Mas ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-massaquois-acquittal-to-be-revisited%ef%bf%bc#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-massaquois-acquittal-to-be-revisited%ef%bf%bc\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-massaquois-acquittal-to-be-revisited%ef%bf%bc#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/liberia\/sites\/37\/2022\/08\/postQueueImg_5-62f67652d5d7c.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/liberia\/sites\/37\/2022\/08\/postQueueImg_5-62f67652d5d7c.jpg\",\"width\":977,\"height\":597,\"caption\":\"Liberia: Massaquoi\u2019s Acquittal to be Revisited\ufffc\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-massaquois-acquittal-to-be-revisited%ef%bf%bc#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Liberia: Massaquoi\u2019s Acquittal to be Revisited\ufffc\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/\",\"name\":\"Liberia\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Liberia: Massaquoi\u2019s Acquittal to be Revisited\ufffc - Liberia","description":"A Finnish Appeal Court has upheld a request by prosecutors to relitigate the acquittal by a district court of Gibril Mas ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-massaquois-acquittal-to-be-revisited\ufffc","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Liberia: Massaquoi\u2019s Acquittal to be Revisited\ufffc","og_description":"A Finnish Appeal Court has upheld a request by prosecutors to relitigate the acquittal by a district court of Gibril Mas ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-massaquois-acquittal-to-be-revisited\ufffc","og_site_name":"Liberia","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2022-08-12T15:31:46+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-08-12T15:49:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":977,"height":597,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/liberia\/sites\/37\/2022\/08\/postQueueImg_5-62f67652d5d7c.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-massaquois-acquittal-to-be-revisited%ef%bf%bc#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-massaquois-acquittal-to-be-revisited%ef%bf%bc"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Liberia: Massaquoi\u2019s Acquittal to be Revisited\ufffc","datePublished":"2022-08-12T15:31:46+00:00","dateModified":"2022-08-12T15:49:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-massaquois-acquittal-to-be-revisited%ef%bf%bc"},"wordCount":545,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-massaquois-acquittal-to-be-revisited%ef%bf%bc#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/liberia\/sites\/37\/2022\/08\/postQueueImg_5-62f67652d5d7c.jpg","keywords":["Africa Press","Africa Press-Liberia","Liberia"],"articleSection":["all news","homepage-english","policy","twitter"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-massaquois-acquittal-to-be-revisited%ef%bf%bc#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-massaquois-acquittal-to-be-revisited%ef%bf%bc","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-massaquois-acquittal-to-be-revisited%ef%bf%bc","name":"Liberia: Massaquoi\u2019s Acquittal to be Revisited\ufffc - Liberia","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-massaquois-acquittal-to-be-revisited%ef%bf%bc#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-massaquois-acquittal-to-be-revisited%ef%bf%bc#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/liberia\/sites\/37\/2022\/08\/postQueueImg_5-62f67652d5d7c.jpg","datePublished":"2022-08-12T15:31:46+00:00","dateModified":"2022-08-12T15:49:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"A Finnish Appeal Court has upheld a request by prosecutors to relitigate the acquittal by a district court of Gibril Mas ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-massaquois-acquittal-to-be-revisited%ef%bf%bc#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-massaquois-acquittal-to-be-revisited%ef%bf%bc"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-massaquois-acquittal-to-be-revisited%ef%bf%bc#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/liberia\/sites\/37\/2022\/08\/postQueueImg_5-62f67652d5d7c.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/liberia\/sites\/37\/2022\/08\/postQueueImg_5-62f67652d5d7c.jpg","width":977,"height":597,"caption":"Liberia: Massaquoi\u2019s Acquittal to be Revisited\ufffc"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-massaquois-acquittal-to-be-revisited%ef%bf%bc#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Liberia: Massaquoi\u2019s Acquittal to be Revisited\ufffc"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/","name":"Liberia","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21277"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21277\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}