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afrol News, 26 March - The leader, or officially former leader, of the Sierra Leonean RUF rebels, Foday Sankoh, has claimed his innocence in the murder trial against him and 49 other rebels in Freetown, the country's capital. Many ex-fighters of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) will have to answer to a special UN Tribunal for war crimes in Sierra Leone when this will be established. The funding of the UN court however remains an unanswered question, but according to UN sources, the establishment of the court in Freetown is already underway. The large number of war atrocities, terrorising the civilian population, committed by the RUF will be treated by this UN tribunal. Waiting for the UN court, the Sierra Leonean government had to take action against Sankoh and his fellow "rebels" following the lifting of the state of emergency last month, and file concrete charges against them to be able to hold them in jail. Sankoh and his colleagues have been charged with murder in an incident on 8 May 2000, when Sankoh's supporters allegedly killed 21 protesters after a peace deal had been signed. The peaceful demonstration outside Sankoh's house in Freetown was targeting the violence committed by RUF during the civil war. Sankoh was arrested soon after this incident and has been kept detained by the government since that. Sankoh yesterday told the court in Freetown he was innocent of the charges brought up against him. "I am totally innocent of all the charges and I am asking the Court to get me out of here," Sankoh was quoted by the Freetown press as saying. The trial against Sankoh and his comrades had however not started yet, and the (former) rebel leader was only brought to court to be told that the trial was to be postponed until 4 April. The reason was that it still had not been possible to find a lawyer registered in the Sierra Leonean Bar Association willing to represent Sankoh. Sankoh's Nigerian lawyer, Edo Akanya, meanwhile has been registered temporarily at Bar Association. When the trial against Sankoh is over, whether he is convicted or not, he will have to face much harder charges at the projected UN tribunal. The RUF leader is held responsible for terrible crimes against humanity during his terrorist attacks on the Sierra Leonean civil population. It was consent RUF policy to terrorise civilians during the war. Sankoh is believed to be the unifying force for the rebel movement, which wanted him to be their candidate at the presidential elections in May. The Freetown trial however prevents Sankoh's candidacy. RUF interim leader Sesay does not enjoy the same support within the rebels. Sources: Press reports and afrol archives
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