War crimes trial of Sierra Leone ex-rebel starts in Finland
The war crimes trial of a Sierra Leonean former rebel commander has started in Finland.
The prosecution alleges that Gibril Massaquoi – allegedly known by the moniker “Angel Gabriel” – and rebels under his command carried out a litany of killings, rape and torture in Liberia between 1999 and 2003.
He denies the charges.
Massaquoi was once the spokesman of Sierra Leone’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (RUF) and has been living in Finland since 2008.
Thousands of people were killed in the brutal civil war in Liberia and Sierra Leone.
