By Chernor Alimamy Kamara
Prosecutors in Finland have lodged an Appeal against the acquittal of former Revolutionary United Front (RUF) Commander, Gibril Massaquoi.
The Turku Court of Appeal has given permission for further proceedings against Massaquoi who is a Finnish national of Sierra Leonean descent, for alleged atrocities he committed during the Liberian civil war.
The District Court of Pirkanmaa had in April this year dismissed all charges against Massaquoi over alleged crimes he was said to have committed during the war between 1999 and 2003.
He had lived in Finland for more than ten (10) years where he was arraigned and accused of numerous crimes such as murder, aggravated rape, aggravated war crimes, and gross human rights violations during the Liberia war.
Judicial Authorities from Finland had traveled to West Africa and visited the scenes of alleged crimes, interviewed witnesses, and heard dozens of testimonies from them.
But after the trip to Liberia, the district court in Finland found out that the prosecutors did not prove with sufficient certainty that Massaquoi was involved in the acts he was alleged to have committed. The court, therefore, stated that there were reasonable doubts about his guilt on the charges.
The court also noted that during its verdict, the defense had given reason to doubt whether Massaquoi was in Liberia when the alleged crimes levied against him apparently took place.
The prosecutor however demanded a life sentence for him after they had appealed the verdict at the end of May. The permit for the appealed verdict was granted at the end of June but was not made public until Monday.
The date of the next hearing is not yet scheduled, but it is said to be communicated in due course.
He had denied all charges levied against him and also denied any wrongdoing. Massaquoi was one of the key figures in the RUF rebel movement that waged a bloody civil war in Sierra Leone between 1991-2001, after crossing over from neighbouring Liberia.
Copyright © 2022 Politico Online (10/08/22)
