NAOMI CAMPBELL has told the Special Court for Sierra Leone that she didn’t really want to be there, saying she just wants “to get this over with and get on with my life. This is a big inconvenience for me.”
The model is appearing as a prosecution witness in the war crimes case against former Liberian president Charles Taylor. Coverage of the trial can be found here, albeit with a 30-minute delay.
After being called as a witness, Campbell said she feared for her safety if she gave evidence, and the judge gave special orders prohibiting photographs of her entering or leaving the court.
The prosecution alleges Campbell was given blood diamonds by Taylor after attending a dinner with him and Nelson Mandela in 1997. Taylor has always denied receiving or dealing in the diamonds.
This morning, Campbell told the court that she received “dirty looking stones”, but did not know who they were from. She said two men appeared at her hotel room in the middle of the night and gave her a pouch with no explanation and no note.
Actress Mia Farrow, who is due to testify on Monday, claims Campbell told her about the encounter the next day. Campbell is appearing as a result of Farrow’s claims that she received blood diamonds from Taylor.
The model said she gave the stones to her friend who ran a children’s charity and asked him to do something with them. She said she didn’t really care what happened to them.
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