Mia Farrow contradicts Naomi Campbell in Charles Taylor (war crimes) trial

[Turborama]

Source: The Guardian



Naomi Campbell told guests staying at Nelson Mandela's home in South Africa in September 1997 that she had received diamonds from the former Liberian warlord Charles Taylor, according to testimony given to a court in The Hague today by the actor Mia Farrow.

Speaking before the special court for Sierra Leone, the US film star contradicted parts of evidence given by the supermodel last week, in which Campbell alleged that she had no idea who had sent her the "dirty looking stones" until breakfasting with Farrow and others the morning after.

Asked whether, as Campbell had claimed, it was Farrow herself who had said that the gift must have come from Taylor as "no one else" would have done it, Farrow replied: "Absolutely not. Naomi Campbell said they came from Charles Taylor."

She added: "What I remember is Naomi Campbell joined us at the (breakfast) table but before she even sat down she recounted an event of that evening. She said that in the night she had been awakened and some men were knocking at the door and they had been sent by Charles Taylor and … they had given her a huge diamond. And she said she intended to give the diamonds to Nelson Mandela's children's fund."

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/2010/aug/09/mia-farrow-contradicts-naomi-campbell

---

Video at the link.

I'm watching this live and keep thinking, "Why isn't a similar war crimes trial taking place against the Bush, Cheney & Blair cabal?"

The Telegraph reporting on this...

Mia Farrow disputes Naomi Campbell's account of 'blood diamond affair'
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/liberia/7934273/Mia-Farrow-disputes-Naomi-Campbells-account-of-blood-diamond-affair.html

Live blog that automatically updates: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/liberia/7934063/Charles-Taylor-war-crimes-trial-as-it-happens.html

Live stream available here: http://www.charlestaylortrial.org/

[No Elephants]

1. On this issue, I'd believe Mia over Naomi any day.

[dipsydoodle]

2. Don't really matter

Its not Campbell who's on trial.

[No Elephants]

7. I'm guessing it matters to Naomi.

[Turborama]

8. She will be on trial if she committed perjury, though.

:hi:

[dipsydoodle]

10. Possibly

but she wouldn't be tried at the Hague for that and the US don't even recognise that court.

:hi:

[No Elephants]

13. Still, it matters, which was the original issue under discussion.

Her testimony and credibility matter in this trial or she would not have been called to testify.

And whether or not anything formal happens in this proceeding to Naomi herself, she still has a life to live and she's been having enough problems in the court of public opinion (and with her rich boyfriend), even without this.

[Turborama]

9. Self delete of dupe

Damn cookies.

:hi:

[superconnected]

31. No, but Cambell is protecting someone who murdered tens of thousands

so the outcome does matter.

[dipsydoodle]

35. Not too sure about that

She's no cause to do so. I think she's trying to protect herself against the stigma of blood diamonds.

[superconnected]

36. All she has to say is she didn't know they were blood diamonds.

Instead she played coy Friday and said she received a necklace with dirty rocks but she doesn't know if they're diamonds or from that guy, etc. All she needs to do is turn it over - it's currently at a childrens charity she owns- so she says.

[dipsydoodle]

38. She owns - so she says ?

Not unless she owns the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund (NMCF).

She said the stones were in her possession for around six hours before she handed them to Mr Ratcliffe, then the head of the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund (NMCF).

The court heard the charity had no record of any such gift but Campbell said she understood Mr Ratcliffe was still in possession of the stones.

In a statement yesterday, the charity said it had been unable to locate Mr Ratcliffe.

But today Mr Ratcliffe came forward to say he had passed the gems to police in South Africa.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/charity-man-hands-naomi-campbell-gift-diamonds-to-police-2045612.html

[superconnected]

39. Ah, so she doesn't own the charity.

That doesn't change much though. Here's an article:

Supermodel's ex-agent: Naomi flirted with Taylor

LEIDSCHENDAM, Netherlands (AP) - Naomi Campbell's former business agent has told a war crimes court the fashion model flirted with former Liberian President Charles Taylor at a 1997 dinner and he arranged to send her a gift of uncut diamonds.

Carole White's testimony contradicts the British model's statements at the Sierra Leone Special Tribunal.

Campbell downplayed her contact with Taylor, saying she received an unexpected gift of "dirty looking" pebbles the night after the dinner. She told judges Friday she did not initially realize they were diamonds or who sent them.

Prosecutors say White's testimony Monday could help prove Taylor traded guns for uncut diamonds with rebels in neighboring Sierra Leone during its 1992-2002 civil war.

http://www.komonews.com/news/entertainment/100267519.html

[dipsydoodle]

41. If you'd managed to watch most of it,

as I did, I doubt you would conclude that Carole White's testimony would help prove anything.

[Turborama]

4. The attorney who's cross examining her is currently trying to destroy her credibility. n/t

[onehandle]

19. Agreed. nt

[Lightning Count]

28. On what issues would you not believe Mia over Naomi?

:)

[Skittles]

3. HELLO

maybe that gal is PETRIFIED

[fasttense]

5. Why isn't a similar war crimes trial taking place against the Bush, Cheney & Blair cabal?

Because President Obama does not want to prosecute rich powerful criminals. He would rather compromise with them.

[Turborama]

6. Is it up to Obama, though?

Genuine question as I really want to know what the process is to bring them to trial.

[No Elephants]

11. Obama could investigate and prosecute them here for violation of U.S. laws, including

domestic laws against torture.

Per the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (to which Raygun made us a signatory, signatory nations are legally obligated to prosecute.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Convention_Against_Torture

See also, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Declaration_of_Human_Rights

So, at a minimum, we are in violation of our legal obligations under that treaty--but who in the world (literally) can or will do anything about it if we choose to violate? So we, in effect, thumb our nose at the other signatory nations, setting a horrific example and precedent and possibly endangering our own citizens/troops who get captured, as even McLame noted during one of his brief periods of sanity during the Bush Admin.

A judge in Spain asked if the U.S. was going to prosecute, 'cause, if not, he was going to commence proceedings. The Obama administration, in essence, told Spain to get him to shut up and sit down. Mission accomplished.

All these issues have been the subject of LBN threads during the Obama administration.

As far as the international court, that's been discussed in LBN, too, but I don't remember the steps. I'm guessing we have the muscle to put the kibosh on that, too, if we want, much as we did with the Spanish judge.

Thing I wonder is, how many Congressional Committees (both parties) would be implicated, along with Bushco because they were apprised and did nothing (or next to nothing) to stop it? Were members of the judiciary involved in any way? Has the Obama admiistration done (or allowed) anything that might subject it to scrutiny (extraordinary rendition, supposedly also engaged in by the Clinton admin, Bagram, etc.)

Is America REALLY prepared for its own version of the Nuremberg trials? Apparently, Obama and Holder think not. And they may be right. If high ranking members of both Parties have broken international and domestic law, who will govern? Who or what will fill the vacuum? And so, we avert our eyes from the rule of law.

[No Elephants]

12. What compromise have Bush, Cheney, et al made again?

[CBGLuthier]

14. Mia Farrow, known liar, accuses Naomi Campbell, known batterer and liar

Couple of real fucking winners there.

[Turborama]

15. Please elaborate on your accusation that Mia Farrow is a "known liar"

Thanks in advance...

[CBGLuthier]

16. Do you think Woody Allen sexually molested his son?

Mia Farrow claimed so. Such claim was found to be without merit. What does that make Mia Farrow?

A Known Liar.

[Turborama]

17. Correction, daughter. BTW the judge called Allen's conduct with Soon-Yi "grossly inappropriate"

After Allen and Farrow separated, a long public legal battle for the custody of their three children began. During the proceedings, Farrow alleged that Allen had sexually molested their adopted daughter Dylan, who was then seven years old. The judge eventually concluded that the sex abuse charges were inconclusive<64> but called Allen's conduct with Soon-Yi "grossly inappropriate". She called the report of the team that investigated the issue "sanitized and therefore, less credible" and added that she had "reservations about the reliability of the report". Farrow won custody of their children. Allen was denied visitation rights with Malone and could see Ronan only under supervision. Moses who was then 14, chose not to see Allen.

In a 2005 Vanity Fair interview,<65> Allen estimated that, despite the scandal's damage to his reputation, Farrow's discovery of Allen's attraction to Soon-Yi Previn by finding nude photographs of her was "just one of the fortuitous events, one of the great pieces of luck in my life... It was a turning point for the better." Of his relationship with Farrow, he said, "I'm sure there are things that I might have done differently ... Probably in retrospect I should have bowed out of that relationship much earlier than I did."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woody_Allen#Mia_Farrow

[aquart]

24. Amazing how she never detected it before he started dating the 21 year old.

She had a pretty naked mental process. If Woody with Soon-Yi was incest and child-molesting, which she believed it was, although she was clear enough to realize other people might not buy it, then he was obviously practicing incest and child-molesting with their mutually-adopted much younger daughter.

Young though he liked them, as evidenced by his movies, Woody always seemed to require puberty before then.

Nobody ever asked why Soon Yi had never had a boyfriend. Nobody ever asked why she hated her "mother's" guts. Or why "mother" and "daughter" never went near each other again.

A while back I saw footage of a Farrow family celebration, possibly Mia's birthday. The married older children didn't bother to show up for it. The younger ones were adamantly telling her how much they loved her and how wonderful she was. Made the hairs on the back of my neck stand straight up.

I would believe her over Campbell in this matter. But Mia Farrow did something to spite Woody Allen that astonishes me to this day. She legally changed his son's first name. His FIRST name. The name he had gone by all his life. To spite his father. I wouldn't have given her custody of a grape after that.

[Lightning Count]

29. So it's her fault for not realizing it sooner?

Let me guess that you are also a big fan of Roman Polanski?

[LostinVA]

20. It was a daughter, and it wasn't found without merit

[superconnected]

33. Were you there to know that he didn't? Really, it always amazes me when people

claim to know something that they can't actually know.

[superconnected]

32. Yeah but look at the issue. If Mia is right the murderer can be prosecuted for war crimes, however

Naomi is protecting the murderer - who is responsible for 10's of thousands of deaths.

I mean do you really not want to be behind Mia on this?

Naomi is now sh-t in my book for protecting that guy and stupidly saying crap like she's not sure if he gave her a diamond necklace - that is part of a war crime because of his alliance to obtain it. She's protecting that creep. I think she should go to prison for perjuring to help him at this point.

[LostinVA]

18. I believe Farrow over Campbell

Farrow is a bit quirky, but Campbell has proven what a despicable person she is. She should have been thrown in jail a long time ago.

[flyarm]

21. THIS> lends to make me believe Mia's testimony >>>

"UN prosecutors have accused him of taking illegally mined diamonds from the Sierra Leonean insurgents in return for weapons that were used in a campaign of terror which killed 120,000 people and included child enslavement and mutilation atrocities. "

Mia has worked very hard most of her adult life for chidlren's causes ..

I don't believe she would ever sell children out..no matter who it involves.

[flyarm]

22. When does Bush and Cheney's trial begin at the Hague?

crickets

[Ichingcarpenter]

23. I wish Pat Robertson would have to testify on his business dealings

with his partner in crime Charles Taylor.

[flyarm]

25. poppa Bush has his mines as well and many were shoved off helicopters near those mines..

John Bolton and John Negroponte were papa Bush's go to men..( John Negroponte liked shoving people off helicopters!)

look up Papa Bush's ties to those mines..top secret shit..

Greg Palast did a series about GLOBALIZATION..that he discusses the papa Bush ties to mines..but no one is supposed to be allowed to even mention it..ever.

See our criminals and murderers never get held accountable or put on trial..we only go after 22 yr old soldiers who try to expose the murders and crimes!


If you can get the audio cd of Palast tell the story it is horrifying!
I had gotten the CD from WMNF in Florida , i believe in 2003-2004 time period, sorry i can't find the CD I think I lent it out.

this is just a snip about it..not the story itself..


http://www.baltimorechronicle.com/silence_apr01.html

snip;

Fifth—and this is no small matter—no one ever got sued for not running an investigative story. Let me give you an example close to home. The companion report to my investigation of the theft of the election in Florida was a story about Bush family finances. I wrote in the Guardian and Observer of London about the gold-mining company for which the first President George Bush worked after he left the White House. Oh, you didn’t know that George H. W. Bush worked for a gold-mining company after he lost to Bill Clinton in 1992? Well, maybe it has to do with the fact that this company has a long history of suing every paper that breathes a word it does not like—in fact, it has now sued my papers. I’ve gotten awards and thousands of letters for these stories, but, honey, that don’t pay the legal bills.

[uncommon]

26. Um, because he's a black warlord and Bush et al are white businessmen.

There is no mystery here. Also, we like to look like our hands are clean.

[BlueMTexpat]

27. In many ways, the whole Naomi Campbell "thing" is a distraction,

except to prove that Taylor was trafficking in blood diamonds. The really sick thing is that the Reagan Administration supported Taylor and, according to credible reports, turned him loose (he was in our custody at the time) in order to topple the previous administration in Liberia in spite of Taylor's questionable track record - including embezzlement and being trained as a guerilla fighter in Libya. Taylor was supposedly "our" guy b/c he had attended school in the US. Justice has taken a long time to get to this murderous thug who was largely responsible for some of the worst West African atrocities ever.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Taylor_(Liberia)

Because it doesn't look like we're ever going to clean our own house up of BushCo-era war criminals, I hope that the World Court will help bring justice to the hundreds of thousands whose lives have been lost or forever ruined because of their actions.

[Mnpaul]

30. When are they going to drag Robertson into court?

Robertson, a Bush supporter who has financial interests in Liberia, said he believes the State Department has “mismanaged the situation in nation after nation after nation” in Africa.

“So we're undermining a Christian, Baptist president to bring in Muslim rebels to take over the country,” he said in the broadcast.

Robertson told The Washington Post in an interview published Thursday that he has “written off in my own mind” an $8 million investment in a Liberian gold mining venture he made four years ago, under an agreement with Taylor's government.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/07/11/national/main562915.shtml

[time_has_come]

34. Can someone explain to me why Ms Campbell would bother lying about that???

I mean, OBVIOUSLY the diamond came from Taylor. She'd have to be an idiot not to know that.

She got upset at a journalist asking her about it. This silly woman never learned the simple lesson of honesty being the best policy. If she was straight about it she would look fine. Sure, some people could then say that she should have not accepted it, but i that's debatable. Staying in a dictator's country and being offered a gift by several large men in the middle of the night, I'd probably have taken it too.

Now she looks like a lying idiot though.

[superconnected]

40. She looks worse than that.

Friday when she went to court she complained of the "inconvenience" and said she didn't want to be there. Guess getting justice for the 10's of thousands killed is an inconvenience in her life.

[mikeytherat]

37. "Mia Farrow disputes Naomi Campbell in war crimes trial"

Gotta admit, that is not a headline I thought I'd ever see.

mikey_the_rat

[AngryAmish]

42. Whhhaaaaaat? Naomi Cambell a liar?

How can that be?

Pardon me.