- Naomi Campbell puts trial behind her as she holidays with billionaire
- Model's former agent Carole White torn to shreds in cross-examination
- White branded 'a liar' by defence as she admits some evidence 'mistaken'
- Charles Taylor's lawyer says White 'made it up' to help Campbell lawsuit
Naomi
Campbell appears to have put the ugly and 'inconvenient' business of a
war crimes trial behind her as she relaxes on holiday in Sardinia with
her billionaire Russian boyfriend Vladimir Doronin.
The
supermodel laughed, joked and seemed to have put all thoughts of blood
diamonds behind her as she lounged in the millionaires' playground of
Porto Cervo, Sardinia, as cross-examinations continued at Charles
Taylor's war crimes trial at The Hague.
Campbell, 40, and her boyfriend have been spotted holidaying with Leonardo DiCaprio and his Israeli model girlfriend Bar Refaeli and the group were seen today on a luxury yacht at the resort.
Relaxing time: Naomi Campbell swaps the war trials courtroom for a multi-million pound yacht
Making a splash: The model takes a leap of faith into the water as she soaks up the sun
Ironically, the actor famously
starred in the critically acclaimed 2006 film Blood Diamond, which
focused on the trade in illicit gems from war zones in Africa.
However, it would appear the irony was lost
on Miss Campbell, who was accused in court of accepting conflict stones
from African warlord Charles Taylor.
The star has been living it up at the ultra-exclusive Billionaires club in Porto Cervo, Sardinia, since she arrived on Sunday.
That night Miss Campbell
attended the birthday party of jeweller Fawaz Gruosi. Also at the
ultra-exclusive Billionaires Club were Mr Doronin, Kevin Spacey, model
Elisabetta Gregoraci, Janet Jackson and Formula One racing boss Flavio
Briatore, who also owns the club and had a tempestuous relationship with
Campbell nine years ago
All thoughts of Charles Taylor appear to have vanished from Naomi's
mind as she giggles with friends including Bar Refaeli and
Leonardo Dicaprio
Fun in the sun: The two models relax on the luxury yacht
In the pink: Leonardo Di Caprio's girlfriend dazzled in a tiny fuschia-coloured string bikini
Meanwhile, the trial of Taylor for crimes against humanity has continued at The Hague.
The former Liberian president is being tried on 11 counts of war crimes,
including charges of murder, rape and sexual slavery, in a trial that has
already lasted two years.
Mr Taylor, 62, is accused by prosecutors of using 'blood diamonds' to
fund a brutal and bloody war carried out by rebels in neighbouring
Sierra Leone.
Under scrutiny: Campbell arrived in Porto Cervo,
Sardinia, shortly after giving testimony to the Charles Taylor war
crimes tribunal in The Hague
When
Campbell appeared at The Hague last Thursday, she claimed her presence at
the Liberian dictator's trial was an inconvenience, an assertion which
drew gasps from the court.
Campbell then went on to say she had
received 'two or three' diamonds in the middle of the night following
the party thrown by Nelson Mandela in 1997, but did not know they were
from Taylor.
The model's evidence was yesterday contradicted by both actress Mia Farrow and Campbell's former agent Carole White, 60.
Celebrity gathering: DiCaprio and his girlfriend Bar Refaeli have spent much of the week with Campbell and Doronin
They claimed she had always known that the diamonds were from Charles Taylor.
However today, Campbell's former 'mother figure' White was savaged in court over 'mistakes and inconsistencies' in her account.
She was accused by Taylor's defence of telling a 'pack of lies' about a gift of blood
diamonds to the model because of a separate bitter legal dispute with
the star and repeatedly called a liar.
She
claims Miss Campbell was promised diamonds as a gift after flirting
with the former dictator over dinner and arranged to accept them from
two of his henchmen in the middle of the night.
In the money: Campbell (third from right) with
(left to right) Elisabetta Gregoraci, Leonardo DiCaprio, Sir Philip
Green, her boyfriend Vladimir Doronin and Bar Refaeli
The
supermodel told the trial last week the gems were totally unsolicited
and were delivered out of the blue to her room after a party hosted by
Nelson Mandela in Pretoria, South Africa.
War
crimes prosecutors claim the stones were ‘blood diamonds’, smuggled out
of Sierra Leone to fund a deadly trade in weapons for the bloody civil
war there.
'Not a liar': Naomi Campbell's former agent
Carol White insisted she was telling the truth after her testimony was
cross-examined today
Courtenay Griffiths QC suggested
Miss White had made up her version of events to strengthen her
multi-million-pound lawsuit against Miss Campbell over a cancelled
£300,000-a-year contract.
'Quite
frankly, Miss White, your account is a complete pack of lies and you
have made it up in order to assist in your law suit against Miss
Campbell. Put bluntly, this for you is all about money, there ain't
nothing funny,' he said.
But
she insisted: 'It's totally the truth, it has nothing at all to do with
my business argument with Miss Campbell. This is not about money, it is
a very serious matter and I am telling the truth.'
Miss White, 60, once regarded by Miss
Campbell as her 'surrogate mother', repeatedly denied making up her
account of what happened at the September 1997 party.
Miss Campbell told the court last
week that she had received three small, uncut diamonds but had not
known who had sent the ‘dirty looking pebbles’ and insisted her former
agent was lying.
Miss
White, founder of Premier Model Management, claims there were five or
six gemstones, and that Miss Campbell had not only known who sent them
but personally arranged their delivery.
She
told the court that Miss Campbell 'flirted' with Taylor over dinner
before being promised diamonds and claimed she then liaised about how
they would be dropped off.
She claimed the model arranged to receive five or six uncut diamonds after having dinner with Taylor.
Under oath: The supermodel giving evidence in the war trials court on August 5
She said yesterday: ‘Naomi was very excited and told me, “He’s going to give me some diamonds”.’
American
actress Mia Farrow has also told the court the model boasted about
receiving a 'huge diamond' from Taylor after a celebrity-studded dinner
at Mr Mandela's house.
They effectively accused Miss
Campbell of perjury while giving evidence under oath last week against
the former Liberian leader, who is on trial accused of murder, rape and
torture.
Today, Miss
White came under sustained fire from Mr Griffiths as he questioned her
account - and even the judge demanded she must answer questions
directly.
She insisted
she had been present at the end of the dinner when Campbell and the
Liberian defence minister discussed how the jewels would be delivered.
'It was quite clear that some men had already been dispatched to Johannesburg to collect the diamonds,' she said.
The model had sent four or five text
messages once back at their guest house - which her then agent had
assumed were part of a conversation with Taylor.
She
said: 'Naomi told me "they're really near, can we go out into the
garden and look for them". Someone was telling her they were near.
'I
was watching her with the phone and communication was by text, I think.
She was telling me let's go into the garden because they're nearly
here. Let's go and look for them.'
The men threw stones at the window, which Miss White opened, and said: 'We've got a gift for Miss Campbell,' the court was told.
Miss
White could not say how they had known which window to target. 'It was
either very lucky - or someone had told them - but I think it was very
lucky, it was very late,' she said.
The
supermodel said last week that the men had knocked directly on her door
but her former agent insists she went to rouse her client and that they
both went down to the main doors to let them in.
'I
said the men have arrived, I'm not sure we should let them in. I told
her to put on a wrap because she wanted to let them in. When we got
downstairs, there was no-one,' she said.
'There
were no servants in the kitchen, they had all gone to bed. We had to
open the doors. There were no guards outside and we let the men in. She
was quite excited that finally these diamonds had arrived.'
The accused: Former Liberian President Charles Taylor sitting during testimony by Mia Farrow yesterday
Miss Campbell insisted she did not let the men into her room and had just accepted a pouch from them and gone back to bed.
She
told the court she did not even look inside it until the following
morning, where she saw 'dirty looking pebbles', and insisted she had no
idea they were from Taylor.
But
Miss White said she and Miss Campbell, who was wrapped in a cashmere
shawl, had invited the two men - who were wearing suits - inside to
drink Coca-Cola.
'She was quite excited that finally these diamonds had arrived,' the model agent said.
They
'got out a piece of paper with the diamonds in and gave them to Naomi.
She thanked them. We looked at them - they were quite weird,' she said.
She admitted she had not heard
Taylor arrange to give Miss Campbell the diamonds, and said the men who
delivered them had not said they were from him.
She had earlier claimed the model was openly disappointed that the rough gemstones were not 'shiny' diamonds in a box.
Even
so, she said she still had to persuade the model to hand the jewels to
Mr Mandela’s Children’s Fund charity, to avoid a scandal if she was
caught smuggling them out of South Africa.
She
claims this was decided before breakfast the following day - before
Miss Farrow claims the model boasted at breakfast about her present.
The defence: Charles Taylor's lawyer Courtenay Griffiths attempted to shred Ms White's testimony
Asked
whether the model spoke of the present, Ms White said: 'Miss Campbell
was given a gift of diamonds from a president. Quite frankly any woman
who had been given a gift of diamonds from anyone would tell somebody.
It was quite exciting.'
Mr Griffiths challenged her account,
saying: 'Two men you've never seen before that night just happen to
throw stones at your window without knowing who you are or your
connection to Naomi Campbell? How does that work?'
Miss White replied: 'It's what
happened. I can't say any more than that.' Mr Griffiths said: 'I
suggest you are a liar', and she responded: 'That's nice of you.'
The defence lawyer added: 'I suggest
that this account of what happened that night is a complete
fabrication, which is why you are having difficulty dealing with the
detail. Do you understand what I'm suggesting?' Miss White said: 'No.'
However, she admitted she had not actually heard Taylor promise to give Miss Campbell diamonds at the dinner table.
'He nodded that he was going to send her diamonds. I didn't hear the words, I don't recall them, ' she said.
'When
Naomi Campbell leaned back to tell me that Charles Taylor was going to
send her diamonds, he was in agreement. I don't recall the conversation
word for word.'
Mr Griffiths said: 'The bottom line is, you made this up.' Miss White replied: 'I did not make it up.'
Miss
White said her relationship with Miss Campbell - once her
biggest-earning client - soured in 2006 when a cosmetics deal was
cancelled, leaving her up to £600,000 out of pocket.
She
agreed that a 'hefty amount' was a stake in her legal dispute with
Campbell, which relates to royalties from the model's perfume range.
Explaining
why she came forward to give evidence to Taylor's trial, she said: 'I
have known this story since 1997. It is quite an amazing story.
'However,
when I was told by my lawyer that Charles Taylor had been in the Hague
in a war crimes trial, I realised it was very serious and the blood
diamond issue had a big bearing on the case. It was my duty to tell my
story that happened 13 years ago. I haven't lied and this is a true
story.'
Taylor was
arrested in 2006 and handed over to the Special Court for Sierra Leone
to answer 11 charges of war crimes, including murder and rape.
He denies any wrongdoing. The hearing continues.
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