7.45am:
Last week the supermodel Naomi Campbell admitted accepting "dirty looking stones" after meeting the former Liberian leader Charles Taylor at a charity dinner in 1997. This added weight to the prosecution's case that the former warlord traded blood diamonds in return for supplying weapons to the Revolutionary United Front rebels in Sierra Leone.
Campbell said she was told by her former agent Carole White and the actor Mia Farrow that the diamonds came from Taylor, but otherwise she had no idea who sent them. That testimony is likely to be challenged by White and possibly Farrow.
In evidence to the tribunal, White said she heard Taylor tell Campbell he would send her some diamonds. Taylor's defence lawyer Courtenay Griffiths QC claims that White is using the case to smear Campbell as part of a separate dispute.
You can follow a web feed of today's testimony, on a 30-minute delay, from the court's website.
Lizzy Davies, who is at the court, writes:
The mood at the Special Court for Sierra Leone at Leidschendam is a good deal calmer today than last week, but the tension is mounting.Observers are keen to see whether Naomi Campbell's fellow dinner guests will indeed contradict her testimony, as their declarations to the prosecution would seem to suggest.
We're expecting White's evidence to be lengthier – the court has predicted it will last two hours – and more detailed than Farrow's, whose only knowledge of the diamonds seems to have been over breakfast the next morning.
Campbell's former agent, on the other hand, has told prosecutors she was asked to help arrange the delivery of the diamonds, and that her protege invited the men in for cans of Coca-Cola in her bedroom. Asked about all this on Thursday, Campbell denied it all.
Meanwhile, Campbell's "people" are milling around the press room – which is, incidentally, far more sparsely populated than Thursday. They don't know where she is, they said, but they'll be her eyes and ears today.
8.38am:
The hearing starts with a complaint from Taylor's defence counsel Courtenay Griffiths about the order of who appears today. Carole White was supposed to appear first, it now seems that Mia Farrow will take the stand first, and there's no sign of White.
Griffiths says this reversal in the timetable is "totally out of order" and he accuses the prosecution of "playing fast and loose" with the court. Apparently White has an appointment elsewhere today. Griffiths says the tribunal is not being held for convenience of witnesses, in an echo of Naomi Campbell's phrase last week.
8.44am:
Mia Farrow comes into the court wearing glasses and a black suit. She takes the oath.
8.49am:
Farrow confirms that she attended the Blue Train charity party in South Africa at the invitation of Nelson Mandela. She says she travelled to South Africa with her three children.
She also confirms she attended a now infamous dinner at Mandela house. She was advised by Mandela's partner Graca Machel not to be photographed with fellow guest Charles Taylor, the then leader of Liberia.
Farrow confirms the names of the other guests including Naomi Campbell, Quincy Jones and the cricketer Imran Khan (who she describes as a soccer player).
8.56am:
Farrow says that Campbell recounted a story that Taylor had sent men to give her a "huge diamond" and that she intended to give it to Mandela's charity.
The feed shows Taylor taking notes at the back of the court.
Campbell did not show the guests the diamond, Farrow says.
8.59am:
Farrow said she and Campbell "became friendly" and that they had discussed organising a party with supermodels, including Kate Moss and Christy Turlington, to raise money for Mandela's charity. Farrow said her children "adore" Campbell. She was "very maternal" with the children and lent a dress to her daughter Malone. "She was just great," Farrow said.
9.03am:
The court is showed this video of an ABC interview in which Campbell denies receiving a diamond from Taylor.
9.06am:
Is that statement in the interview consistent with what Campbell told you, Farrow is asked. "No," she replies.
9.08am:
The court is shown a transcript of Campbell's testimony. Farrow denies that she or White told Campbell that the diamonds had come from Taylor. Farrow says she can't remember Carole White and has had no contact with her since.
The suggestion that the diamonds came from Taylor was made by Campbell, Farrow insists.
It was "only hers – I didn't know anything about it," Farrow says.
Farrow says she didn't know who Taylor was and "shamefully" she didn't know about the war in Sierra Leone.
9.13am:
"Who said the diamonds came from Charles Taylor?" Farrow is asked directly by the prosecutor. "Naomi Campbell," Farrow says.
The defence raises an objection that one witness is impeaching another.
The objection is overruled by the judges.
9.16am:
Farrow is asked more about a breakfast conversation with Campbell in which Campbell says she discussed what she planned to do with the diamonds. Campbell said she would give the diamond or diamonds to Madiba's [Mandela's] children's charity, Farrow said.
9.19am:
Campbell's testimony from last week is read out. "Miss Farrow, did you tell Miss Campbell that the diamond or diamonds came from Charles Taylor?" She replies, "Absolutely not," and again insists that Campbell made the suggestion that the stones came from Taylor.
9.22am:
Farrow is cross-examined by Taylor's defence lawyer, Morris Anyah. She confirms she doesn't know where the diamond or diamonds came from, and that she did not see the stone(s). The defence is trying to suggest that Farrow's memory is hazy.
9.26am:
Farrow says Campbell's breakfast time story about the diamond from Taylor was an "unforgettable moment". She says her children also remember the story. The children were 16 or 17, 12, and 10 years old at the time, the defence establishes.
9.29am:
The defence quizzes Farrow on whether there was one "big diamond" or several. Campbell talked about two to three "dirty looking stones", Anyah points out. He also talks about White's various accounts of the number of diamonds.
"Yesterday, Carole White told her lawyer that there were five uncut diamonds," Anyah said.
Farrow says she remembers a discussion of only one big diamond. Anyah says a lot has happened to Farrow in the last 13 years.
"Do you know somebody by the name of Jeremy Ractliffe?" Farrow is asked. She says she knows he was the director of Mandela's childrens' charity from recent coverage of the trial.
9.36am:
The president of the tribunal asks to clarify the age of Farrow's oldest son at the time of the party. He was 27, not 17, Farrow confirms.
9.37am:
The tribunal is shown a copy of this BBC story which begins
The former head of Nelson Mandela Children's Fund, Jeremy Ractliffe, has said he did receive uncut diamonds from the model Naomi Campbell.
Anya reads out bits of the story including this:
"Three small uncut diamonds were given to me by Naomi Campbell on the Blue Train on 26 September 1997," he [Ractliffe] said in a statement sent to the BBC.
South Africa's special Hawks police unit has since confirmed to the BBC that they received the stones on Thursday from Mr Ractliffe, who first made contact with them on Tuesday.
9.43am:
Anyah, with Charles Taylor sitting behind him, presses Farrow again on whether there was one diamond or more. A judge from the tribunal says Farrow has already answered this.
Farrow says what she knows is based on what Campbell said. "She said a 'large diamond' singular, that's what she said," Farrow said.
9.49am:
Farrow is asked to clarify whether Taylor stayed for the charity dinner. "I believe he may have departed," Farrow says. "He may have stayed, she [Campbell] may have a better recollection," she says.
Farrow says her attention was focused on her children during the dinner. She remembers a "large group" at the dinner on three or more tables. "I'm sorry I can't be more precise," she tells the president of the tribunal.
"I didn't know much about him [Taylor] before the dinner," she says.
Anyah reminds the court that Campbell said there was only one table.
9.54am:
"I didn't see any flirtation" [between Campbell and Taylor], Farrow says in reference to White's testimony. Farrow says she can't remember where Campbell or White sat at the dinner.
9.56am:
The court is shown the now infamous photo of the party.
9.58am:
Farrow confirms that she appeared in the photograph wearing "traditional African attire".
According to White, Taylor's wife was also at the party wearing African dress. Farrow can't remember this. Farrow recalls the names of the guests in the photograph, she apologises for describing Imran Khan as a soccer player earlier (8.49am).
10.05am:
The defence drifts way off topic by asking Farrow about when she split up with Woody Allen. The court is shown a photograph of Farrow, Campbell and the models Christy Turlington and Kate Moss with Mandela at a fundraising party in 1998. Not quite sure where this is going.
10.10am:
"Did you ask Campbell whatever happened to that diamond," Farrow is asked of the 1998 party. "No I didn't," she replies.
10.14am:
Back to the 1997 dinner picture featuring Charles Taylor. Why is Graca Machel smiling in the picture if she warned Farrow not to be photographed alongside Taylor? Farrow is asked.
Maybe she had obligations, Farrow suggests.
10.24am:
Farrow said it was her impression that Charles Taylor overstayed his welcome at the Mandela dinner in 1997.
Anyah points out that Machel was previously married to Samora Machel, a rebel turned president of Mozambique. She is not someone who would be unnerved by the company of rebel leaders, Anyah points out.
Farrow confirms she is aware of Machel's background.
10.31am:
The court takes a mid-morning break. While we wait for more, here's Lizzy Davies's write-up of this morning's testimony.
Naomi Campbell told guests staying at Nelson Mandela's home in South Africa that she had received diamonds from the former Liberian warlord Charles Taylor, according to testimony given to a court in The Hague today 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 alleged that she had no idea who had sent her the "dirty looking stones" until breakfasting with Farrow and others the morning after.
10.56am:
My colleague Adam Gabbatt has talked to Lizzy Davies who was in court as Mia Farrow gave her evidence. Lizzy says Farrow told the court "very clearly" that Naomi Campbell had told her that the diamonds had come from Charles Taylor.
Taylor's lawyer is arguing that if Farrow cannot remember other points from 13 years ago (the actor has been hazy on what happened at the dinner hosted by Nelson Mandela) then perhaps her evidence is faulty.
Farrow insists she remembers what Campbell said about the diamond accurately, however.
11.03am:
The proceedings have resumed and Farrow appears again after another discussion about the order the witness should appear.
Was Carole White present at the breakfast meeting, Anyah asks. "I don't remember," Farrow says.
Farrow confirms that she travelled on the Blue Train in September 1997 with other guests including Mandela, Campbell and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. She says it is likely that Ractliffe was also on the train but she can't remember if he was. She can't remember whether White was on the train.
11.14am:
The court is shown testimony stating that White and Campbell discussed what to do with the diamonds while on board the Blue Train. Farrow repeats that she heard that Campbell wanted to give the diamonds to the charity at the breakfast - in other words before the Blue Train ride.
"You knew the country Liberia?" Farrow is asked. "Yes," she replies with a smile in apparent reference to Campbell's stated ignorance of the country.
11.18am:
Campbell said it was you or Carole White who said the stones were diamonds and that they came from Charles Taylor, Farrow is told. One of you is not telling the truth, it is put to her. Farrow says is not possible that she did not remember the events accurately.
11.23am:
Is it possible that the gift could have come from anyone in South Africa? Anyah asks. "But for the fact that she said it came from Charles Taylor," Farrow replies.
The prosecution name-checked the Guardian referring to an interview in which Farrow said she was interested in books. "You are an enlightened person?" Anyah asked. "I'm working on it," Farrow said.
Is this the article? Here's an extract:
Farrow reported that the previous night she had watched Schindler's List and couldn't stop crying. She has been reading Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha and Paramahansa Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi - Thomas Moore's Care of the Soul is next up - and listening to the slow movements of Bach and Mahler. "Alongside my bed is a large window through which I can see the sky, a lake, trees, birds and, at dusk, the deer. I am at peace and busy with my thoughts."
She also mentions reading in this interview.
11.34am:
As a well-read person with an interest in Africa, did it occur to you to contact the tribunal about what you had heard? Farrow is asked. "I didn't know this incident would be so consequential," she says. "My focus was on Sudan," she says.
Farrow says the Rwandan genocide "changed my life".
Farrow says she had forgotten about the diamond story. "Yes, I regret not putting it together earlier," she says.
If Taylor is found guilty of the crimes, I am "gratified" that he was arrested, Farrow says clarifying her declaration to the court. She says she is "happy" to provide evidence.
11.40am:
"I am willing and pleased to offer whatever I can," Farrow says. She says using the word "pleased" in that context is a figure of speech and doesn't mean she is "elated".
The court is shown a clip of a news item in which Farrow talks about hearing of Campbell receiving the large diamond. In the clip Farrow says that she stands by the story in the face of denials from Taylor.
"I'm eager to see the people of Liberia and Sierra Leone see justice. They deserve that," Farrow says in the clip.
Anyah points out that Taylor is not accused of anything in relation to Liberia. Farrow admits she didn't know that.
11.54am:
The court is shown extracts of Farrow's blog.
These bits are read out:
Mr. Bashir is indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes and crimes against humanity, but the African Union Panel on Darfur has clearly aligned itself with Khartoum.For seven years, the people of Darfur have been pleading for protection and for justice. They do not believe either peace or justice can come while Mr. Bashir - orchestrator of their suffering - remains president of Sudan. Nor do they believe "locally owned accountability" is remotely possible under the current regime.
When Barack Obama was elected president of the United States, hope abounded, even in Darfur's bleak refugee camps. Darfuris believed this son of Africa could understand their suffering, would end the violence that has taken so much from them, and bring Mr. Bashir to justice.
I have held new babies named Obama and watched as Darfuris began to dream again.
It is past time for us to step up and accept our moral obligation to protect a defenseless people. The American people should urge Mr. Gration and the Obama administration to lead a diplomatic offensive to convince the world to isolate Omar alBashir as a fugitive from justice, and to whole-heartedly support the only body offering Darfur's people a measure of authentic justice: the International Criminal Court.
12.00pm:
What has all this got to do with what Naomi Campbell told the witness about receiving diamonds, one of the judges asked of the defence's line of questioning.
Anyah is allowed to continue. "Do you really believe that the international criminal court is the only body that can offer the people of Darfur justice?" he asks. "Yes," Farrow replies.
She also talks about her hunger strike over Darfur. It lasted 12 days, she says. "I just couldn't sit by and watch" Farrow says.
The court is shown another video, this time of Farrow campaigning against Omar al-Bashir's regime in Sudan. In the clip she talks of thugs "who hack their way to power".
Farrow says she believes Bashir is guilty of genocide before the verdict of the international criminal court.
12.20pm:
Farrow is challenged about a blog entry last Thursday in which she cut and pasted a Guardian article about blood diamonds.
The article is shown to the court.
Mark Tran, who wrote the article, is sitting next to me chuckling. (Mark says he himself cut and pasted much of the article from another one that he wrote on the subject in 2007).
Farrow admits she made changes to the Guardian article before pasting it on her blog.
12.27pm:
Farrow admits taking out the crucial words "if true" from the Guardian article. Farrow said she couldn't bring herself to write "if true" because she knows it to be true. Here's the extract from Mark's Q&A.
The supermodel was called to testify by the prosecution for having allegedly received a diamond as a gift from Taylor in 1997. There is no suggestion that Campbell knew the possible origin of the diamond. She admitted in court to receiving "dirty-looking" diamonds that she was later told came from Taylor.Prosecutors say the story, if true, would back up allegations that Taylor traded guns to neighbouring Sierra Leone rebels in exchange for uncut diamonds.
Here's how it appeared in Farrow's blog:
Naomi Campbell was called to testify by the prosecution for having allegedly received a diamond as a gift from Taylor in 1997. There is no suggestion that Campbell knew the possible origin of the diamond.
Prosecutors say the story backs up allegations that Taylor traded guns to neighbouring Sierra Leone rebels in exchange for uncut diamonds. The prosecution argues that the diamond allegedly given to Campbell was likely to have been part of a batch obtained by Taylor from Sierra Leone and taken to South Africa for sale or exchange for arms.
Farrow says she probably shouldn't have edited the article. "I used the Guardian to explain what the trial is about," Farrow said.
12.39pm:
Farrow is asked to clarify a few points about her testimony by the tribunal's judges. She says she wants to retract her estimate of the number of guests at the party. She also says that Mandela's partner, Graca Machel, pointed out Charles Taylor at the party and said that he "should have gone by now".
"What was Campbell demeanour at breakfast?", the president of the tribunal asks. She seemed excited, Farrow says. "She didn't sit down before telling the diamond story."
Charles Taylor definitely wasn't on the Blue Train ride, Farrow said.
There are no more questions.
Before she leaves, Farrow tries to clarify a point about the breakfast conversation. "I assumed there was a diamond as Miss Campbell was accustomed to receiving. I didn't know it was diamonds in the rough. I pictured a diamond in a box, she didn't say it was a diamond in the rough."
That's it from Farrow. She is thanked for her evidence and leaves the court.
12.56pm:
Carole White, Naomi Campbell's former agent, takes to the stand. "I was her agent in London, then I became her mother agent," White says. She says she worked with Campbell for 17 years.
White confirms that she went on the Blue Train trip in September 1997 and stayed the night in Mandela's guesthouse.
White says she kept a record of the itinerary of the trip, but before she goes into details the court adjourns for its lunch hour.
1.08pm:
While the court is at lunch, here's a summary of the main points from Mia Farrow's testimony:
• Farrow contradicted key parts of Naomi Campbell's testimony about rough diamonds she received after meeting Charles Taylor at a charity dinner with Nelson Mandela in September 1997. Farrow, who believed there was only one large diamond, said it was Campbell who suggested that the gift came from Taylor.
• Farrow said Campbell was excited as she recounted receiving the gift. Farrow said it was an "unforgettable story", but her recollection of other details about the event seemed hazy.
• Campbell told Farrow that she planned to donate the diamond(s) to Nelson Mandela's children's charity. Jeremy Ractliffe, who last week admitted receiving the diamonds from Campbell, was probably on the Blue Train ride that guests took after Campbell was given the stones, Farrow said.
• Charles Taylor's lawyers suggested that Farrow was an unreliable witness by pointing out that she had preconceived ideas about alleged African warlords. The defence revealed that Farrow had omitted the words "if true" when she cut and pasted a Guardian article referring to the allegations that Taylor had given Campbell rough diamonds.
There's more in our news story on Farrow's evidence.
2.06pm:
The trial continues with questions to White from prosecution lawyer Brenda Hollis about Campbell's trip to South Africa. White describes Mandela's guesthouse as "baronial".
White says that Taylor attended the dinner at Mandela's house together with Campbell and Farrow. White says she met Taylor briefly before the dinner. "I was seated three down from him" [during the dinner] she says. Campbell told White that Mandela's partner, Graca Machel, was annoyed that Taylor was at the dinner.
2.17pm:
"Naomi leant back and Charles Taylor leant forward. Naomi was very excited, and told me 'he's going to give me some diamonds'" White told the court.
"They were being charming to each other. Mildly flirting," White said. "They were just being affable," she clarifies. "Naomi was flirting with him [Taylor] and he was flirting back," she adds. "I heard them laughing and talking, but I can't recall the conversation," White says.
2.23pm:
One of Taylor's ministers discussed bringing diamonds to Campbell's room in the guesthouse, White said. She doesn't recall which minister. She said he was wearing African dress and was about 35 to 40 years old. White said she heard this conversation but did not take part in it. "Naomi was very excited about these diamonds" White says describing the moment she and Campbell were waiting for the diamonds to arrive. On two occasions White and Campbell went into the garden to see if the men with diamonds had arrived. "She knew they were on their way," White said. She said Campbell was in touch with someone on her phone. "I don't recall if it was a phonecall or a text," White says.
2.28pm:
"As I was getting ready for bed I heard some chinky news at the window as if someone was throwing pebbles," White says. "'We have something for Miss Campbell'. I told them to wait," she said. White told Campbell that the guys with the diamonds had come, White recalled.
"She really wanted to let them in" [to the guesthouse] White says. "The guys came in. I gave them a Coca-Cola each. They took out a scruffy piece of paper [containing the diamonds]. They were quite disappointing because they weren't shiny."
White said there were five or six diamonds and that she handled the paper containing the stones.
2.33pm:
"I was quite worried about the gift, because if she took them out of South Africa I thought it would be me who would have to carry them and that it was illegal to take diamonds out of South Africa," White says.
White says she told Campbell the next morning to "do some good" with the diamonds and that she should donate them to Mandela's charity.
We both discussed that the diamonds were not very impressive, White recalled.
2.36pm:
"When we were on the Blue Train we went to see Jeremy Ractliffe in his carriage," White says. By then the diamonds were in a pouch, White says. She doesn't recall how many diamonds were given. "He looked shock and horrified. He didn't want them. Reluctantly he did take them," White says.
Both White and Campbell pressed Ractliffe to take the stones, she adds. "We explained to him that we knew it was bad to take them out of South Africa, and that he could do something better with them," she says.
2.45pm:
White is asked to label a photograph taken by David Bailey showing Mandela, Ractliffe and Campbell. (It must be one of the worst photographs David Bailey has ever taken).
Hollis says she doesn't want to ask any more questions.
2.48pm:
Taylor's defence counsel Courtenay Griffiths begins cross examination by asking White whether she watched Campbell's testimony. White says she saw snippets on the news.
White admits she may have been expected to appear live on CNN tonight for an interview with Anderson Cooper. Many people have asked me to appear on TV tonight, she says. "I did not agree, my attorney might have agreed," she says. White says she wasn't sure whether she wanted to appear, and wanted to wait until after she had given testimony before agreeing to the request.
2.58pm:
"Did you have a blood diamond party in your offices last week?" Griffiths asks White referring to a Facebook posting by White booking agent Annie Wilshire. White says she was with Wilshire last Friday but denies going to such a party.
3.03pm:
There was a party on Thursday night, White says, but it was nothing to do with blood diamonds. It was a party to mark the purchase of new house for models. No one referred to it as blood diamond party, White insists.
A caption of a photo from the party refers to it as a "blood diamond night" Griffiths points out. White is asked to label the people in the photo.
3.10pm:
White says she is surprised that the party was referred to as a "blood diamond night". She confirms Campbell's testimony was discussed at the party. "It does surprise me that terminology, because I'm not crass enough to organise a party like that," White says.
Griffiths confirms that "the whole of my office" was watching Campbell's testimony live last Thursday. When Campbell said her appearance was an "inconvenience" the whole office laughed, according to a Facebook posting from one of White's employees. The comment was made by a former employee White says.
Here's the offending Facebook page.
3.21pm:
White confirms that she has a legal claim against Campbell worth around £600,000. "You have a powerful motive to lie about her," Griffiths states.
She later accepts that she is looking for more than £600,000. You are looking for ammunition against Campbell, Griffiths states. "That's not true", White replies.
3.28pm:
Why did your lawyer think it important that you go public with this story? Griffiths asks. Did your lawyer say it would help with your lawsuit against Campbell? Griffiths asks.
No, White insists.
"You are not being frank with this court," Griffiths replies.
3.33pm:
"Would you have had an opportunity to meet Nelson Mandela, were it not for Miss Campbell?" Griffiths asks. "Probably not," White accepts.
While all this is going on Taylor continues to take notes in his seat behind Griffiths.
"I suggest you are the one who owes Naomi Campbell," Griffiths says.
3.39pm:
White says the last time she spoke to Mia Farrow was 1997 on the Blue Train. She has made no contact with her since, she says. Griffiths asks her to provide telephone records to prove this. White says she is willing to do this. She says it is coincidence that Farrow provided written testimony to the court two weeks after White launched her lawsuit against Campbell.
White again insists that she has not spoken to Farrow since 1997. She adds that no one else, to her knowledge, has contacted Farrow on her behalf.
3.46pm:
White says she knew nothing about blood diamonds in 1997, but she knew who Charles Taylor was, and she knew a little about Liberia.
3.49pm:
White admits her knowledge of Mandela's compound in Pretoria is sketchy. She can't remember if the compound is surrounded by fields. Were you there? Griffiths asks. I was there, I may have been asleep when we drove there, White says.
She says she can't recall if there were lots of armed guards at the compound. How did two burly black men get into the compound to through stones at your window? White is asked. "It is question I ask myself," she replies. She insists that two men came into the compound with diamonds. She admits that she can't recall whether they came from Liberia or whether they had been sent by Charles Taylor.
4.01pm:
White is thanked for her evidence and asked to return tomorrow. She is told not to discuss the case with anyone including her lawyer.
That's it for now. Thanks for your comments.
You have characters left
Please read our community standards.
Closing this window without pressing "Post your comment" will result in your words being lost.
Are you sure?
Thank you for your comment. This has been submitted for moderation.
Your comment has been successfully posted.
Sorry, something has gone wrong and this action cannot be completed. Please try again later.