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 yesterday 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 said she had no idea who had sent her the “dirty-looking stones” until the morning after.
Asked whether, as Campbell had claimed, it was Farrow herself who had said that the gift must have come from Taylor, 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.”
Pressed by the prosecution on whose suggestion it was that the mysterious donor was Mr Taylor, the then recently elected president of Liberia, Farrow said: “Only hers. I didn’t know anything about it.”
In her testimony on Thursday, Campbell said she believed it had been Farrow who had told her that Taylor was behind the gift. However, Farrow told the court that she had not at the time known anything much about Mr Taylor.
However, a defence lawyer for Taylor argued that all Farrow’s testimony was “based on your recollection of what you heard 13 years ago”.
A lot had happened during that period, the lawyer added, mentioning the suicide of Farrow’s brother and the death of her daughter. But Farrow insisted she was sure of her account. Campbell’s story, she said, had been “an unforgettable moment”.
Farrow (65) spoke softly while questioned by a lawyer for the prosecution, which is attempting to gather evidence to link Taylor to a trade in conflict diamonds from Sierra Leone rebels fighting a bloody civil war.
Former Liberian president Charles Taylor denies participation in a trade in illegal “conflict diamonds”, as he does all 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity put to him by the court.