afrol News, 21 January - Former Sierra Leonean Interior Minister Sam Hinga Norman, now an indicted war criminal, is accused of "coordinating activities calculated to cause civil unrest" in the country. The special war crimes court now is sanctioning Mr Norman, based on these allegations.

The former senior Sierra Leonean official indicted for war crimes has had all his communications except those with his lawyers restricted for 14 days after an intercept linked him to attempts to cause civil unrest, the Special Court in the West African country said today.

Former Internal Affairs Minister Norman was indicted in March last year for acts ranging from murder, sexual slavery and rape, to forced conscription of children during a decade's worth of atrocities and human rights violations.

The Registrar of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, which contains a mix of international and national judges, took the step against Mr Norman after a telephone intercept recorded late on Monday indicated that he was "involved in coordinating activities calculated to cause civil unrest in Sierra Leone."

Mr Norman is one of the few pro-government officials indicted by the Special Court, which mostly has concentrated on the brutal ex-rebels from the RUF. The ex-Minister was also the leader of the former Kamajor pro-government militia group, which fought against the RUF rebels.

The indictment of Mr Norman has caused controversy in Sierra Leone. In a statement in April last year, the Kamajor militia emphasised that its actions had only been in defence of the people of Sierra Leone, thus protesting the prosecution of their leader.

The Special Court however is to prosecurte all "major war crimes" during the ten-year brutal civil war in Sierra Leone, regardless which side committed them. The Kamajor militia is accused of committing several serious human rights abuses, including torturing and summarily executing opponents and recruiting child fighters.

According to a statement by the Special Court last October, Mr Norman's lawyers meanwhile were preparing to argue that the ex-Minister could not be indicted for recruiting child soldiers because there were no international statutes against the practice. Mr Norman also has clamed he is being "treated inhumanely" while in arrest.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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