Witness, Lawyer Clash

Defence shows frustration with witness over apparent discrepancies in statement about attack on Bogoro. By Emily Ponder in London

A judge at the International Criminal Court, ICC, trial of alleged rebel leaders Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo told a witness this week to stop shouting as he argued with a defence lawyer.

The witness, testifying under face and voice distortion and known as Witness 159, claims to have been present during a February 2003 attack
on Bogoro in the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, telling the court he could see the incident from his hiding place about 50 metres away
from the village.

However, his marking on a map, submitted as prosecution evidence, placed him about 400 metres away, which would have made the events in his testimony more difficult to see, according defence counsel David Hooper.

The witness said that he saw both Katanga and Ngudjolo at in Bogoro during the incident, which was the largest and most deadly of the
conflict in the Ituri region of the DRC.

Katanga and Ngudjolo allegedly led the Patriotic Resistance Force in Ituri, FRPI, and National Integrationist Front, FNI, respectively,
during the assualt on Bogoro, the base of the Union of Congolese Patriots, UPC.

They have been charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder, pillaging, rape and using child soldiers under the age of 15.

Witness 159 surprised Hooper last week when he mentioned Katanga's presence in Bogoro. The witness's statements to the prosecutor had made no mention of Katanga, which was another source of frustration during Hooper's cross-examination.

Hooper asked the witness on many occasions why Katanga's name was nowhere in the statement, which was taken in October 2006. The witness told Hooper he just needed to look more closely at the statement to see Katanga's name.

"I have looked in vain, there's no reference to Germain Katanga in your statement," Hooper told the witness.

Hooper noted that a paragraph in the statement dealt with responsibility for the attack. Among those mentioned in the paragraph were Ngudjolo and two other commanders. However, in the statement the witness said he "did not know who commanded the Ngiti soldiers who participated in the attack on Bogoro". The FRPI was made up of forces of Ngiti ethnicity.

Hooper asked for an explanation of the discrepancy, and the witness gave several answers. He told Hooper that the prosecutors were in error in recording his statement; that Katanga's name was in fact in the statement and that the statement was talking about a different battle.

At one point, when the witness raised his voice and had already interrupted Hooper a number of times, Judge Fatoumata Dembele Diarra
told the witness, "Please remain calm."

"Please don't shout, please don't get angry," she said. "Everybody will win that way."

The witness apologised and continued with his testimony as Hooper cross-examined him.

"I think these proceedings are teaching us a good deal of patience," Presiding Judge Bruno Cotte said near the end of the hearing on March
25.

Hooper, who had planned to conclude his questions on Thursday, March 25, told Cotte at the end of the session he would need another three hours.

"It is very difficult with this witness," Hooper said.

Emily Ponder is an IWPR intern in London.