The Prosecution of the Special Court for Sierra Leone has today concluded its case in the trial of three former members of the Revolutionary United Front, Issa Hassan Sesay(photo), Morris Kallon and Augustine Gbao.
According to a special court press release, the three accused each face an 18-count indictment for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other serious violations of international humanitarian law.
Since the beginning of the trial on 5 July 2004, the Court has heard from Prosecution 86 witnesses over 183 trial days.
Following a discussion on the admissibility of certain documents, Senior Trial Attorney Peter Harrison told the Court that “the Prosecution has no further witnesses to call and the Prosecution closes its case”.
Issa Sesay and Morris Kallon were indicted in March 2003 and Augustine Gbao was indicted the following month. Indictments against two other accused former RUF leaders, Foday Sankoh and Sam Bockarie, were withdrawn by the Prosecutor in December 2003 due to the deaths of the two men.
Oral arguments on Motions for Judgment of Acquittal are scheduled to take place on 16 October.
This is the third of the ongoing trials in which the Prosecution has closed its case. The other two trials are currently hearing witnesses for the Defence. The case of the Prosecutor vs. Charles Taylor is currently in the pre-trial phase.
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