Naomi Campbell gives evidence in war crimes trial
NAOMI Campbell admitted accepting a gift of “dirty-looking pebbles” from an African dictator yesterday as she sat in the witness box of a war crimes trial.
The catwalk beauty had previously denied accepting “blood diamonds” from former Liberian President Charles Taylor and resisted giving evidence against him.
Even after being subpoenaed to appear, Miss Campbell, 40, said the trial was a “terrible inconvenience” which she did not want.
But she then admitted accepting a pouch of “very small, dirty-looking pebbles” delivered to her room after a star-studded charity dinner in South Africa.
Two of Taylor’s men knocked on her door at night after the event, and, when she answered, handed her the pouch saying: “A gift for you.”
Miss Campbell told the UN Special Court in The Hague that she gave the stones to a Nelson Mandela children’s charity – but the fund later denied receiving them.
‘They were dirty-looking pebbles. I’m used to seeing diamonds in a box’
In a prima donna performance, Miss Campbell won a court order to stop her photo being taken, swept into the complex in a blacked-out car, and answered the prosecutor’s questions hesitatingly.
Asked if this was because she was nervous, she said: “No, well, I didn’t really want to be here. I was made to be here.
“This is a terrible inconvenience to me. I’m just wanting to get this over with and get on with my life.”
She added: “I don’t want anything to do with... I care about the protection of my family.
“This is someone that I read up on the internet that’s killed thousands of people allegedly and I don’t want my family in danger in any way.”
Taylor, 62, who ruled Liberia for six years from 1997, is accused of backing rebel gunmen who spread terror through neighbouring Sierra Leone.
The prosecution claims he exchanged “blood diamonds” – uncut, unprocessed stones obtained through forced labour – to buy weapons for the Revolutionary United Front.
Tens of thousands of people died in the 10-year conflict and the RUF became notorious for hacking off the hands and legs of civilians.
Miss Campbell’s evidence was critical to the prosecution because it established a link between Mr Taylor and the diamonds.
Looking elegant but slightly ruffled, the model famous for her brushes with the law told the court how she was woken in the night following the dinner in 1997.
The event, hosted by Mr Mandela, included fellow guests Imran Khan and his then wife Jemima, actress Mia Farrow and musician Quincy Jones. She said: “I was sleeping and had a knock at the door that woke me up. Two men were there and they gave me a pouch and said, ‘A gift for you’.
“I went back to bed. I looked into the pouch the next morning. I saw a few stones...They were kind of dirty-looking pebbles.
“I’m used to seeing diamonds in a box. If someone had not said they were diamonds, I would not have known they were diamonds.”
Miss Campbell said she only believed the gems were from the dictator because Mia Farrow and her own former manager Carole White suggested it at breakfast. “I didn’t know anything about Charles Taylor before,” she added. “I had never heard of Liberia before. I had never heard the term blood diamonds before.”
Under cross-examination, Miss Campbell called Mia Farrow and Ms White, owner of Premier Model Management, liars for putting forward a different version of events.
Last April, the model told US TV station ABC News that she “never received a diamond” from Taylor.
She went on to tell Oprah Winfrey’s chat show she did not want to testify because she feared for her safety, but later changed her mind and offered to “clarify events in 1997”. But in the end, prosecutors had to summon her to appear. After demanding public protection measures, she was swept into the court precinct in a blacked-out van.
Miss Campbell, who has a conviction for assault, obtained a court order banning photographers from taking pictures of her arrival, but her testimony in court was filmed.
She said she handed the gems to Jeremy Ratcliffe, manager of the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund, and asked him “to do something good with them”. The court was shown documents from the fund “categorically” stating the charity had not received the gems. Miss Campbell had donated cash.
Taylor went into exile in Nigeria after giving up power in 2003, but was arrested three years later.
His trial opened in 2007 and the prosecution finished last year, but was reopened to present the new evidence.
Taylor has pleaded not guilty to 11 charges, including war crimes and crimes against humanity. The case continues.
