Tuesday, 9 November 2010- Intermediary 316 has been firm in his assertions. The individual who helped the Prosecution contact former child soldiers in Ituri has today denied all the accusations of bribery against him. "I am shocked, very shocked at the many lies and the use of forgeries in regards to me," said the witness, referring to the allegations made by an individual called Mr. X - it was not mentioned publicly, but in all likelihood, the unnamed person is Defence Witness 16, a former child soldier who previously testified in this court. The alleged corruption of evidence forms the Defence's request to dismiss the case on the grounds of abuse of process. It is now time for the Prosecution to rebut this argument.
As was revealed in the examination, the OTP intermediary has been interviewed by the Prosecution on several occasions in October 2009, and again in November 2010, prior to his testimony. It was then, during the interviews, when Intermediary 316 had an opportunity to read what Defence Witness 16 said in court and review his allegations. "After reviewing the testimony of Mr. X, I am shocked by false accusations [that] attack upon my character," the witness tells Prosecution Attorney Manoj Sachdeva. The unnamed individual accuses the Intermediary of writing a threatening letter in the garden of his house, signing it and sending it to him. "The description [of the location where the letter was written] he provided in my residence is false," said the witness. "In the compound where I live there has never been a tree. I never sat with Mr. X to write a note, the substance of which is not of my doing. I never wrote that letter."
In addition to his defence, Intermediary 316 asked the Court if he could check the original document to determine whether or not he wrote it. "I do not recognise this letter; it is not binding upon my person, as I said that [it[ is entirely false [...] If the original [document] is here we can verify if this fingerprint is mine or not. As regards the handwriting, I have a number of documents drafted in my own hand and I believe that if we compare these documents we will be able to know whether or not I am the author. These are lies!"
The full story of the intimidating letter was told in private, but one can conclude that the Intermediary's words and the Defence Witness 16's testimony are linked. The former child soldier mentioned in court a document containing false threats and referred to the participation of Intermediary 316 in the drafting. "My family members attacked me because a certain person had come to my home to say I was lying about Thomas Lubanga," Defence Witness 16 explained to the judges. "I went to [Intermediary 316's] home and said to him that the activities I performed with him caused me problems. He told me to [go back] home and he would call me the next day to find a solution. Then he told me we were going to draft this document on behalf of somebody else." The letter was a false death threat against Witness 16, supposedly written by Intermediary 316, which had to be sent to the ICC officials. "They would know how to get me out of Bunia," explained Witness 16.
At that time, the Defence witness testified that he planned with Intermediary 316 to lie to the OTP investigators. "The fib was to say that Thomas Lubanga had enrolled children in the army and I myself was amongst them," he said.
In order to undermine the intermediary's reputation, Defence Witness 16 also said in court that Intermediary 316 persuaded him to say that even children from his own family had been recruited by the UPC, the political-military movement allegedly lead by Thomas Lubanga. "I have no comments on that because I did not say that," Intermediary 316 asserted. "He also said that you were drunk when he met you" says Trial Attorney Mr. Sachdeva. "What do have to say about that?" he asks. "I can say my professional activities do not authorise drunkenness. This could not be proved in any way or at any time. This is a false allegation."
The intermediary, who has given a substantial part of his evidence in private session, will continue to testify tomorrow.
