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| - A former warlord went on trial in Switzerland on Thursday, becoming the first Liberian to face prosecution for war crimes over alleged atrocities during his country's bloody conflict a generation ago. Alieu Kosiah, 45, who was arrested in Switzerland in 2014, is accused of murder, rape and a string of other crimes allegedly committed during the first of Liberia's back-to-back civil wars, which together killed some 250,000 people between 1989 and 2003. No Liberian has ever been convicted -- either in the west African country or anywhere else -- of war crimes committed during the conflict. The trial is being held at Switzerland's Federal Criminal Court in the southern city of Bellinzona. At the start of proceedings, Kosiah told the judge Jean-Luc Bacher that he had been held in prison "for six years and one month," the Swiss news agency ATS reported, adding that he was being detained in a jail in the capital Bern. He denies all the charges. The trial has been repeatedly postponed due to the coronavirus crisis and public places in the court room were strictly limited due to the ongoing second wave of the pandemic. The court case has been split in two, with the first part, dealing with preliminary matters and then the hearing of Kosiah, scheduled to last until December 11. The second half -- featuring the plaintiffs, witnessess and the final plea hearing -- should take place in February 2021, when it is hoped that the pandemic situation might better allow for the alleged victims and witnesses to travel to and stay in Switzerland. Human rights lawyer Alain Werner, representing four of the alleged victims, called for the first part of the trial to be postponed so that they could be present, or, at least, for the hearings to be live streamed to Liberia. Kosiah's duty lawyer Dimitri Gianoli then contested whether the depositions in the case were admissible, casting doubt on their reliability. He said there were inconsistencies in the testimonies and, claimed some witnesses had received money. The court was to consider these points on Friday. Kosiah is accused of committing a string of war crimes while he served as a commander of the United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy (ULIMO) armed group. Among the charges, he is accused of ordering or participating in the killing of 18 civilians and two unarmed soldiers; and desecrating the body of a deceased man by eating his heart. He is also accused of rape; having recruited and deployed a 12-year-old child soldier, and ordering three lootings. Kosiah is the first Liberian to face trial over alleged war crimes committed during the country's first civil war, from 1989 to 1996, according to Human Rights Watch. Liberia's former warlord-turned-president Charles Taylor was convicted in 2012 of war crimes and crimes against humanity -- but that was over atrocities committed in neighbouring Sierra Leone, not in his own country. The ULIMO armed group was created to fight Taylor's rebel force. Switzerland recognises the principle of universal justice, allowing it to try people suspected of committing the most heinous international crimes regardless of where they were committed. But this is the first time its civilian court system has heard an international war crimes case. Liberia's two civil wars were marked by numerous massacres committed by often drugged-up fighters, mutilations, and sexual violence used as a weapon of war. Most of the commanders of the different groups fled the country after the wars ended in 2003. But more than 15 years on, many of those in charge back then still hold positions of political and economic influence in the country. The underlying causes of the conflict -- including ethnic divisions and economic disparities -- remain strongly felt in Liberian society. apo-zd/nl/rjm/ach
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