Model Naomi Campbell has taken center stage at Charles Taylor’s war crimes trial. Prosecutors at the Special Court for Sierra Leone want to subpoena her to testify against the former Liberian president.

By Thijs Bouwknegt

The prosecution claims that Taylor gave Campbell a large rough-cut diamond after a 1997 state dinner at the home of former South African president Nelson Mandela, and says her testimony could help directly link Taylor to the possession of uncut diamonds used to fuel a campaign of terror in Sierra Leone between 1996 and 2001.

Prosecutor Brenda Hollis requested the subpoena after Campbell refused to be interviewed by the court. But “the Trial Chamber should refuse the application,” Taylor’s lead counsel Courtenay Griffiths said on Monday in a response to the request. “The defence contends that Naomi Campbell’s only utility would be to bring unwarranted media attention to the proceedings, it cannot be said that her testimony is necessary to try the case fairly.”

Griffiths also called the evidence “tangential to the real issues” against Taylor and said prosecutors were trying to introduce it too late in the trial - 15 months after they closed their case.

Under cross-examination, Taylor repeatedly denied he had a large quantity of diamonds or that he had given one to Campbell, calling the allegations “total nonsense.”

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