Farrow testifies
August 9, 2010
US actor Mia Farrow testified on Monday that model Naomi Campbell said she got a "huge diamond" from men sent by former Liberian president Charles Taylor. Speaking before the court in The Hague, Farrow contradicted parts of evidence given by Campbell last week.
"What I remember is Naomi Campbell … said that in the night she had been awakened, some men were knocking at the door," Farrow said. "They had been sent by Charles Taylor and they were giving a huge diamond."
Naomi Campbell was pressed on this issue by the prosecution in court last week. Campbell said she had received some "dirty stones" after a dinner hosted by Nelson Mandela in South Africa in 1997, but she did not know who had sent them.
Further contradictions
Campbell's former agent, Carole White, also gave evidence at the trial on Monday, which appeared to contradict Campbell's account.
White claimed that Taylor had arranged to give Campbell a gift of uncut diamonds after a dinner. Later that evening, White said that some men handed "five or six" stones to Campbell.
However, pressed as to whether the men said they were sent by Taylor, White said they had not.
'Dirty-looking stones' or 'a huge diamond'?
Prosecutors are trying to link Taylor to so-called "blood diamonds," illegal uncut diamonds used by rebel groups to finance wars.
Taylor is accused of 11 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity during Sierra Leone's civil war. He denies the charges.
Farrow was pressed by the prosecution over whose suggestion it was that Taylor was involved in presenting the supermodel with the diamonds.
"Only hers [Campbell's]. I didn't know anything about it," Farrow replied.
A lawyer for the defense argued that Farrow's testimony was "based on a recollection of what she heard 13 years ago." But Farrow insisted she was sure of her account.
Naomi Campbell last week told the court she had given the stones to Nelson Mandela Children's Fund the next morning, because she wanted them to go to charity.
Author: Joanna Impey (AP/AFP/Reuters)
Editor: Nancy Isenson