RUF “kingpin” indicted

Senegalese national believed to have worked with war criminal, Charles Taylor and the rebel RUF movement was yesterday served a writ of summons to appear in court. Sources close to the judiciary say Ibrahim Bah aka Ibrahim Baldeh is expected to appear before a Freetown magistrate court this week on several counts including false imprisonment, kidnapping, wounding with intent and conspiracy. One source told Politico that the case had been brought to court by a Swiss-based organisation, Civitas Maxima and the local Centre for Accountability and Rule of Law (CARL). Last month the international rights group, Human Rights Watch and CARL called on the Sierra Leone authorities to start criminal investigations against Ibrahim who has been on a United Nations travel ban since 2004 and is on the INTERPOL watch list. The police and government sounded circumspect at the time as to whether the man being held was the man under a UN travel ban, despite a UN Security Council report detailing him to be the same person. A United States Congressman, Frank R. Wolf has also called on US Secretary of State John Kerry to wade into the issue of Ibrahim and press the Sierra Leone government to press criminal charges against him. He described him as “a key figure in the conflict diamond trade”. A police source has now confirmed to Politico that Ibrahim has in fact been released from police detention to be reporting every 72 hours. He is said to be in a secure house in the west of Freetown, with government tight-leaped on the matter. (C) Politico 16/07/13