By Johnny
Sad news from Staten Island. Dr. David Kpormakpor, former Liberian supreme court justice and interim president, passed away on August 19th from a brain tumor. “Prof,” as I knew him, was part of the West African community on Park Hill. He and I spent several afternoons at Korto’s Place, a Liberian cookshop, underneath the Staten Island [...]
By Johnny
A piece in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle today repeats some serious allegations: that witnesses who may testify in George Boley’s deportation proceeding received payments to do so. Details are absent from the allegations in the Democrat and Chronicle, but Boley’s attorney is quoted saying: “I’ve got reports that these people have been put up [...]
By Johnny
I’ve been scratching my head as to what the whole Naomi Campbell affair could possibly illuminate about Charles Taylor and his trial before the Special Court. Before I had a chance to come up with anything, the Times took a stab at that one last weekend. (Thanks to Shelby for pointing this out.) Alan Cowell [...]
By Johnny
With all due respect to Zigzag Marzah, Issa Sesay and former President Taylor, I humbly submit an opinion: Naomi Campbell is the most attractive witness to appear before the Special Court for Sierra Leone. To quote Rachel Zoe, “Literally.”
By Johnny
There’s a lot to dig into in this decision, but an interesting item crops up on page 74 concerning the controversial memos prepared by the Office of Legal Counsel during the (second) Bush Administration. From the 11th Circuit: If you’ll recall, there was a lot of shock and indignation surrounding the definition of torture put [...]
By Johnny
More on this later, but here’s the gist from page 87 of the decision: Thank to Piper for pointing this out.
By Johnny
A former member of the Zvornik Infantry Brigade in the Bosnian Serb Army, Jadranko Gostic, was deported from the U.S.. on June 1 following an investigation by ICE’s HRVWCU unit. According to the release, “Gostic agreed to admit to the allegations against him, to be denaturalized, to surrender his lawful permanent resident status and to [...]
By Johnny
Yesterday, the U.S. Attorney for Southern District of New York and the DEA announced a striking anti-drug trafficking operation in Liberia–one that Sirleaf, the President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf’s stepson played a direct role in. Defendants in an existing narco-trafficking case I wrote about last year, apparently, helped make this happen. In a world where narco-traffickers can [...]
By Johnny
My brother pointed this out to me–thanks for the tip. Liberia’s president, Madame Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, is in Washington this week. She’s already visited Secretary Clinton and Speaker Pelosi. She’ll be giving the commencement address at Georgetown, as well as, meeting with Obama. Traditionally, these visits provide an opportunity to discuss aid and investment. President [...]
By Johnny
The Caribbean has been on my mind lately. Fresh off my first trip down there, I’m interested in the politics of a region most Americans see as a place to vacation. (I wonder if the only people booking rooms in Kingston today are reporters.) The Caribbean is a border between the U.S. and South America–and [...]