Campbell exposed as 'liar'

10 August 2010, 07:08
Gallery: The blood diamond trial

By Sapa-AP Leidschendam, Netherlands

Naomi Campbell told Mia Farrow she received a "huge diamond" from the ex-president of Liberia, contradicting the supermodel's testimony that she didn't know the value of the gift from accused war criminal Charles Taylor.

The prosecution on Monday called veteran actress Farrow and Campbell's former agent to testify about uncut diamonds that Taylor allegedly gave the model after a September 1997 party they all attended, which was hosted by then president Nelson Mandela.

Prosecutors have pulled the celebrity witnesses into Taylor's trial, hoping they will show Taylor was in possession of at least one "blood diamond" - stones sold to fund wars. Prosecutors say Taylor traded guns to rebels in neighbouring Sierra Leone in exchange for uncut diamonds during Sierra Leone's 1992-2002 civil war, which left more than 100 000 dead in the West African nation.

Taylor says he is innocent of war crimes and has denied ever trading in diamonds.

Defence lawyers accused the prosecution of calling the unlikely witnesses as a publicity stunt to raise the profile of the trial, which has gone on for more than two years.

Campbell, who resisted appearing before the war crimes court for months, testified under subpoena on Thursday that she was given several small stones by men she didn't know after the dinner in Pretoria. The British model said she hadn't known they were diamonds, nor who had sent them, and suggested that Farrow had commented at breakfast the next morning that they were probably diamonds from Taylor.

But Farrow testified that Campbell had told other guests over breakfast in 1997 that she had received a large gem from Taylor. She said Campbell said she planned to give it to the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund.

"She said that in the night she had been awakened, some men were knocking at the door, and they had been sent by Charles Taylor, and they had given her a huge diamond," Farrow told the court.

She added that Campbell seemed "excited, happy" at the gift.

Campbell's former agent, Carole White, said Taylor and Campbell had flirted at dinner.

At one point, White said, Campbell leaned back to speak to her. She "was very excited and she told me he was going to give her some diamonds", White told the court.

But under cross-examination, defence lawyers strongly challenged the testimony of both Farrow and White.

"You have a very powerful motive for lying," Courtenay Griffiths said, noting that White is currently suing Campbell for millions of dollars over an alleged breach of contract.

Campbell has served community service twice after pleading guilty in minor assault cases. A few of her former aides and maids have sued her, accusing her of violent outbursts and usually settling on undisclosed terms.

Meanwhile Farrow, 65, conceded she had never seen the diamond or diamonds herself. Confronted with Campbell's testimony that the gift was three small rough diamonds that looked like pebbles rather than one "huge" polished diamond, Farrow stuck by her story, saying "I can only tell you what Naomi Campbell said".

"I think I would have remembered diamonds in the plural," Farrow added, calling it a "sort of an unforgettable moment".

South African businessman Jeremy Ractliffe, the former head of the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund, on Friday confirmed that he still had three stones he had received from Campbell after the 1997 dinner. He said he hadn't done anything with them because he feared that a blood diamond scandal might attach to Mandela or Campbell as a result. He has now handed them over to South African authorities, and they have been identified as uncut diamonds.

He is co-operating with a police investigation into whether any laws were violated in the handling of the diamonds.

In response to a question from the judge whether she hadn't been influenced by the plot of the movie Blood Diamond, which centres on a single large diamond, Farrow said: "Your honour, I know she didn't say 'a few', and certainly not 'stones'... Why would she give stones to Nelson Mandela's charity?"

This article was originally published on page 1 of The Star on August 10, 2010

The Star

Comments by Sonny

What part of Campbell did Charles Taylor get for his blood diamonds?

The darkest secret is out!