Posts Tagged ‘Nicole Samson’


April 15, 2011

Final Defense Witness Concludes Testimony

By Judith Armatta

The final defense witness in the trial of Thomas Lubanga continued his testimony this morning. In response to questioning by defense counsel Marc Desalliers, he reported that a delegation from the prosecutor’s office in The Hague came to his neighborhood in Bunia town. The witness invited them to accompany him into the field to check…

April 12, 2011

Village Fighters Included Children Under 15

By Judith Armatta

Trial resumed today with the continued cross-examination of Thomas Lubanga’s private secretary, Michel Angayika Baba. The prosecutor was unable to get a concession from the witness that children under the age of 15 were used in the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC) and its armed wing, the Patriotic Force for the Liberation of Congo (FPLC).…

June 30, 2010

Intermediary Tells Lubanga Trial He Did Not Coach Witnesses

By Wairagala Wakabi

An intermediary of prosecution investigators at the International Criminal Court (ICC) has denied that he told former child soldiers to give false testimony about war crimes accused Thomas Lubanga. At the start of his testimony today, ‘intermediary 321’ told court that he never asked the children to lie about their ages, the villages they came…

June 15, 2010

Lubanga Trial Told OTP Did Not Promise Witnesses Payment

By Wairagala Wakabi

The Thomas Lubanga trial today heard from a member of staff of the Office of The Prosecutor (OTP) that child soldiers who testified for the prosecution were never promised or given any incentives to provide incriminating evidence. Testifying for the second day, the witness, who works in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and handled…

June 14, 2010

Investigator: How We Gathered Evidence Against Lubanga

By Wairagala Wakabi

An investigator from the Office of The Prosecutor (OTP) at the International Criminal Court today started giving evidence in the Thomas Lubanga trial by explaining the roles of intermediaries in gathering evidence against Mr. Lubanga. The witness also described how payments were made to witnesses and to intermediaries of the court’s prosecution investigators. The unnamed…

June 1, 2010

Judge Directs Lubanga Prosecutors To Produce Their Investigators

By Wairagala Wakabi

Adrian Fulford, the presiding judge in the Thomas Lubanga war crimes trial, today directed prosecutors to expeditiously produce two of their investigators who are required to give evidence at the behest of the chamber. The judge rejected explanations by prosecutors that they could not readily locate the investigators. Judge Fulford rejected the prosecution’s explanation that…

May 28, 2010

Lubanga Trial: Identities Of Child Soldiers Queried

By Wairagala Wakabi

The main highlight of the Thomas Lubanga trial this week was the presentation by the defense of several documents, which allegedly showed that at least seven prosecution witnesses who claimed to have been child soldiers lied about their identities. The documents included school reports and registers from the institutions which various prosecution witnesses claimed they…

May 17, 2010

Former Child Soldier Recounts Lubanga’s Meeting With UPC Commanders

By Wairagala Wakabi

A former child soldier in the group which war crimes accused Thomas Lubanga allegedly led today described a meeting Mr. Lubanga attended with the top commanders of the armed militia of the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC). ‘Witness 297’ told court that he was grabbed from his school by soldiers led by Floribert Kisembo and…

May 11, 2010

Lubanga Trial: Prosecution Witness Set To Testify

By Wairagala Wakabi

A prosecution witness, who was unable to testify in the Thomas Lubanga war crimes trial last year due to ill health, will give evidence next Monday, according to presiding judge Adrian Fulford. ‘Witness 297’, a former child soldier in the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC), the militia group that Mr. Lubanga is alleged to have…

May 7, 2010

Defense Claims Identities Of Its Witnesses Were Stolen

By Wairagala Wakabi

Thomas Lubanga’s defense told court this week that two of its witnesses could not travel to The Hague to give evidence because their identities had been stolen by other people who are participating in the trial.As a result, these two defense witnesses had to give testimony via video link from Bunia in the Democratic Republic…