NAOMI CAMPBELL’S former agent’s testimony to the Charles Taylor war crimes tribunal was branded “a complete pack of lies” as she admitted that parts of her evidence linking Taylor to a mysterious gift of diamonds were either mistaken or based on her own assumptions.
Speaking on the second day of giving evidence to the court trying the former Liberian president for crimes allegedly committed in Sierra Leone, Carole White appeared shaken during cross-examination by barrister Courtenay Griffiths QC.
Asked whether, as she had previously told prosecutors in May, she had heard the former warlord tell the British supermodel over dinner at Nelson Mandela’s house that he was going to “send her diamonds”, she eventually admitted she had not.
“I can’t recall those words,” she said. She had interpreted a nod from Taylor to Ms Campbell as a sign of “acquiescence” with what she had claimed in May, she said.
The presiding judge pressed her on how she had managed to see this while seated three places away and leaning back to speak to Ms Campbell. “How is that possible?” asked the judge. “For me, mathematically and geographically, it’s a little hard to understand what happened.”
Wearing a black dress with her blonde hair loose over her shoulders, the co-founder of the London-based Premier Model Management agency appeared flustered by the questioning.
She told the court that despite having initially recalled the story as “quite funny”, she soon realised it was “very serious”. “It was my duty to tell my story,” she said.
Prosecutors claim that, if true, the story would be a key piece of evidence linking the former warlord with an illicit trade in diamonds for arms, in which rebels fighting in Sierra Leone’s civil war got weapons in return for gems.
Taylor denies the allegations.
Ms White’s account – in which Taylor and Ms Campbell allegedly arranged delivery of the diamonds during a “mildly” flirtatious dinner – was attacked on all fronts by Mr Griffiths yesterday. “I suggest you’re a liar,” he said. Ms White replied: “That’s nice of you.”
In another point of apparent inconsistency, the agent admitted she had assumed and not known for sure Ms Campbell had been in touch with Taylor or a representative in the run-up to the delivery of the diamonds. “That was an assumption on my part,” she said.
“Quite frankly, Ms White, I suggest your account is a complete pack of lies and you’ve made it up to assist in your lawsuit against Ms Campbell,” Griffiths told the court. He was referring to a separate court case being fought between the former friends over an alleged breach of contract on the part of Ms Campbell.
“Put bluntly,” he added, appearing to quote from a song by hip hop star Grandmaster Flash: “This is all about the money. There ain’t nothing funny.” Taylor’s defence claims Ms White stands to gain hundreds of thousands – if not millions – of dollars from the lawsuit in New York, compromising her testimony.
Ms Campbell’s former “mother agent” rejected the accusations. Her decision to testify at The Special Court for Sierra Leone sitting in The Hague had nothing to do with the other case, she insisted, vehemently denying bending the truth to suit her own purposes. “Well, I can tell you, your honour, it’s not a lie. This happened. I am telling the truth.” After her testimony, Daniel Bright, the lawyer representing her in the New York lawsuit, dismissed accusations that his client was using the Taylor case to tarnish Ms Campbell’s reputation as “complete nonsense”.
“I don’t really need any more material,” he added, claiming that the supermodel was known in New York “mainly for hitting people”.