Supermodel Naomi Campbell Thursday complained that testifying at the war crimes trial of Liberian leader Charles Taylor was a “big inconvenience” and denied flirting with him before receiving a gift pouch of “dirty-looking” diamonds.
The model – who told how she was given the stones in the middle of the night – was accused of not being “entirely truthful” at the trial.
She was repeatedly told to stop interrupting lawyers before telling the Hague war crimes court that being there was a “big inconvenience” for her.
“I don’t want to be here. I was made to be here… This is a big inconvenience to me,” she complained.
Campbell had earlier been threatened with jail unless she appeared at the hearing to give evidence against Taylor.
The former Liberian president is accused of criminal responsibility for atrocities in Sierra Leone including mutilation, rape, sexual slavery and murder.
Prosecutors said Taylor gave Campbell “blood diamonds” after a dinner hosted by Nelson Mandela in South Africa in 1997.
Taylor is accused of selling similar diamonds to buy weapons for rebel fighters in Sierra Leone’s civil war, during which hundreds of thousands of people died.
Campbell appeared in a demure cream two-piece outfit with her hair piled up into a classic chignon.
She said she had traveled to South Africa in 1997 because she was interested in raising money for Mandela’s children’s charity.
The court was told how she had shared a dinner with Mandela, Taylor and other high-profile guests.
Campbell confessed that at the time of the dinner,she did not even know that Liberia existed.
She said that she sat next to Mandela at the event and denied she was sandwiched between Taylor and one of his entourage.
During cross-examination, she was asked whether it was true that she and the accused had been “mildly flirtatious” with each other.
She replied: “When I am with Nelson Mandela – and I think everyone in the world feels the same way – my focus and attention is on him.”
Campbell said she retired to bed early as she was exhausted from traveling to “New York, Milan, South Africa.”
She said that, in the middle of the night, she was awakened by two black men at her door who gave her a pouch before leaving without explanation.
The 40-year-old model told the court she frequently received gifts from admirers and didn’t look at it until the following morning.
“I saw a few stones in there. And they were small dirty-looking stones,” she said.
She denied other witness accounts which suggested she was disappointed at the “pebbles” and would have preferred a “big shiny diamond.”
At breakfast the following day, either actress Mia Farrow or her former agent Carole White told her the rocks must be diamonds, Campbell said.
She was also told they were probably a gift from Taylor.
The court was told that Campbell then gave the stones to a friend, Jeremy Ratcliffe, who at the time was the director of Mandela’s children’s charity.
But after her testimony, charity spokesman Oupa Ngwenya said the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund did not receive the diamonds.
The model said that she understood the diamonds were still with Ratcliffe and added that as far as she was concerned “blood diamonds” did not exist in 1997.
Asked why she did not want to appear in court, she said: “This is someone, I read up on the internet, that has killed thousands of people, supposedly, and I don’t want my family in danger in any way.”
Prosecutor Brenda Hollis questioned Campbell’s account.
She asked the model: “Isn’t it correct that your account today is not entirely truthful because of fear of Charles Taylor?”
Campbell replied: “No, that’s not correct.”
The prosecution later released a statement saying, “Two other witnesses will also testify about these events. The Defence counsel read their statements to Ms. Campbell and it was evident there are significant differences between those accounts and Ms. Campbell’s account. “
White and Farrow are expected to testify about the gift on Monday.
Taylor is standing trial for 11 counts relating to the Sierra Leone civil war which was sustained with the sale of blood diamonds.
Campbell’s evidence could prove crucial, because it relates to whether Taylor owned rough or uncut diamonds, which is something he has always denied.
Taylor was elected president of Liberia in 1997 but was forced to step down six years later and went into exile in Nigeria.