Reuters
In what might turn out to be one of the longest performances of her career, Mia Farrow has been testifying in the Charles Taylor war crimes trial.
The key lines uttered by Farrow on Monday in The Hague contradicted Campbell’s testimony last week. She alleged that Campbell told her back in 1997 that she received the gift of diamonds from men sent by Taylor (Campbell testified that she received two or three stones but didn’t know who sent them.)
Here’s what Farrow said in The Hague: “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.”
A defense lawyer for Taylor argued how Farrow’s testimony was “based on your recollection of what you heard 13 years ago.” He went on to cite the suicide of Farrow’s brother and the death of her daughter in an attempt to maintain that plenty has happened to Farrow since this incident in question. Under cross-examination, Farrow conceded she had never seen the diamond or diamonds herself. When confronted with statements that the gift was several small rough diamonds and not one “huge’ one, Farrow replied, “I didn’t see the diamond or diamonds. I can only tell you what Naomi Campbell said.”
The linking of Taylor to illegal “blood diamonds” is key to the prosecution’s case. Taylor denies all 11 charges and is accused of war crimes during Sierra Leone’s civil war, including using the diamonds to fund rebels.
To read a live blog of Farrow’s testimony, click here.