Liberia: Massaquoi Defense Claims Liberians’ Roles in War Crimes Covered up in a Deal With Liberian Government As Appeal Court Moves to Liberia

Monrovia — Witness tampering has been the focus of the first hearings in the appeal of the acquittal of Gibril Massaquoi, the former commander with the Revolutionary United Front, accused by Finnish prosecutors of committing atrocities in Liberia during the country’s civil wars.

In April 2022, a district court in Finland acquitted Massaquoi, 53, of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder and aggravated rape, after a marathon trial lasting more than a year with long visits for…