People Features

PREVIEW: Bloody bling: Naomi Campbell to testify in war crimes case

By Anna Tomforde Aug 3, 2010, 13:09 GMT

File picture of Naomi Campbell. An African dictator, blood diamonds and a British supermodel known as the \'tantrum queen\' make a heady mix for a day in court. © Pixplanete / PR Photos

London/The Hague - An African dictator, blood diamonds and a British supermodel known as the 'tantrum queen' make a heady mix for a day in court.

On Thursday, Naomi Campbell, the 40-year-old model who blames her fierce temper on childhood neglect, is to appear as a witness in the war crimes trial of former Liberian president Charles Taylor.

Taylor is alleged to have been involved in the export of so-called blood diamonds to finance his support for rebels in neighbouring Sierra Leone. His case is being heard in the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.

The former West African strongman faces 11 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity for allegedly backing rebels responsible for widespread atrocities during a civil war in neighbouring Sierra Leone.

Prosecutors allege that Taylor used rough diamonds to finance the purchase of arms for Sierra Leone. Diamonds used to fuel conflicts are referred to as blood diamonds.

Actress and human rights campaigner Mia Farrow has alleged that Campbell told her, during a joint visit to South Africa in 1997, she had received a gift of a rough diamond by Taylor's men.

'She told us... she had been awakened in the night by a knocking at the door. She opened the door to find two or three men - I do not recall how many - who presented her with a large diamond which they said was from Charles Taylor,' Farrow said in her written testimony.

'All I thought was what an amazing life Naomi Campbell has. Probably lots of men always give her diamonds,' Farrow told the Evening Standard magazine earlier this year.

The model had told her she would give the precious stone to the children`s charity of former South African president Nelson Mandela, whose dinner guests both women had been the previous night.

'I thought no more about it,' added Farrow.

However, it is her allegation that has brought the model to the witness stand. Campbell`s former agent, Carole White, has said she was also present when the gem was delivered.

'I was there,' she told the Observer. 'He did give it to her. It was a small, uncut diamond. I am totally surprised that Naomi hasn't admitted it,' White told the newspaper.

'For avoidance of doubt she is not being accused of any wrongdoing and is not on trial. She is a witness who has been asked to clarify events in 1997,' said the model`s spokeswoman in a statement in London.

Campbell, attending the trial at the court`s request, had earlier refused to testify and rebutted the claims. But her failure to appear could mean up to seven years in jail.

Her lawyers had objected to the court summons, stating that Campbell could not testify to any connection between the diamond and Taylor`s alleged involvement with the rebels.

It will be interesting to see how Campbell handles the questions that will be put to her, with Farrow and White expected to follow her into the witness box.

The model, currently the muse of Russian multi-millionaire, Vladimir Doronin, has a habit of throwing about her jewel-encrusted mobile phone, hitting her drivers and storming out of TV studios.

In 2008, she was sentenced to 200 hours community service in New York, where she cleaned floors in a municipal warehouse, for the mobile phone incident.

Blaming her unpredictable temper on childhood abandonment, she told US chat show hostess Oprah Winfrey that she felt 'ashamed' about her behaviour.

'It`s not just, `I don`t get what I want. I throw`. And if I feel mistrust, then I really just... all my cards go down,' said Campbell. 'It comes from, I think, an abandonment issue.'

Campbell, who has in recent years turned her attention to charity work, was born on May 22, 1970, in south London. Her part-Chinese father was unnamed on her birth certificate and walked out when Campbell's Jamaican-born mother, ex-ballerina Valerie Morris, was four months pregnant.