Naomi Campbell: 'I Felt Like I Was On Trial'
But supermodel regrets her comment that war crimes testimony was 'inconvenient.'
Oct. 21, 2010 — -- Naomi Campbell says that when she testified at an international war crimes tribunal this summer, she felt that she was on trial instead of Liberian warlord Charles Taylor.
In the most recent issue of fashion-forward Interview magazine, the supermodel describes taking the stand in the Hague to describe receiving alleged "blood diamonds" from apparent henchmen of the former dictator.
"I felt like I was on trial myself—and this was not my trial," Campbell told the magazine.
But Campbell also says she regrets an oft-quoted gaffe she made while on the stand.
When a judge asked if she was nervous, she replied that testifying was an "inconvenience."
Campbell told Interview that she regrets using that word.
"That was wrong and I'll take that," Campbell admitted.
Campbell's interview is accompanied by a racy photo shoot with a nude male model tattooed with Russian mafia symbols. The London-born Campbell now lives in Moscow with her Russian billionaire boyfriend.
Campbell was forced to testify at Taylor's trial in the wake of an April ABC News report about allegations that the warlord had given Campbell a "blood diamond" in the middle of the night in September 1997.
The two were guests at the home of Nelson Mandela. Other famous guests included actress Mia Farrow and music producer Quincy Jones.
On the stand in The Hague, Campbell told judges that she had received several diamonds from men she believed to be representatives of Taylor.
Campbell testified that the stones were "dirty little pebbles…" and not "shiny."
This was a very different story than what she told ABC News when asked about the incident at New York Fashion Week in February.
"I didn't receive a diamond and I'm not going to speak about that, thank you very much. And I'm not here for that," said Campbell at the time.
She stormed out of the interview, slapping a producer's camera.
In the Hague, Campbell also testified that she gave the diamonds to former Nelson Mandela Children's Fund Director Jeremy Ractliffe.
Ractliffe, who had kept the gems for 13 years, turned them over to South African authorities immediately following her testimony.
Upon leaving The Hague, Campbell flew to Italy to party on a yacht with actor Leonardo DiCaprio, who ironically had starred in a film about illegal African gems called "Blood Diamond."
Taylor's trial continues, although with Campbell out of the spotlight, the court has received much less media attention.
In Interview magazine, Campbell called the coverage of her testimony a "media circus."
Campbell's lawyer, Gideon Benaim, said at the time of her testimony that she was only a witness at Taylor's trial.
"Naomi has not done anything wrong. She is a witness and not on trial herself," said Benaim.
Taylor has been on trial for almost three years at the U.N.'s Special Court for Sierra Leone, which is being held at the International Crimes Court in the Netherlands, and has pleaded not guilty to all 11 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity against him.
Taylor is accused of using blood diamonds to buy weapons for rebels in Sierra Leone. The warfare killed or maimed tens of thousands between 1997 and 2001.
Taylor's lawyers have argued there is scant direct evidence that connects Taylor to the diamonds or the atrocities.
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"The issue here is not whether such atrocities were indeed committed but who was responsible and specifically was Charles Taylor the person responsible," Courtenay Griffiths, Taylor's lead counsel, told ABC News.
Taylor has angrily denied dealing in blood diamonds. When pressed on the stand in November by Brenda Hollis about whether he sent his men to give a diamond to Campbell, Taylor called the allegation "total nonsense."
