Prosecution Asks To Subpoena Naomi Campbell In War Crimes Trial Because of New Evidence of 'Blood Diamond' Gift

After ABC News report, Campbell's ex-agent recalls Campbell receiving diamonds.

ByABC News
April 23, 2010, 12:36 PM

May 20, 2010 — -- Prosecutors at an international war crimes trial have asked the judges to subpoena supermodel Naomi Campbell to testify about whether she received a 'blood diamond' from an African warlord.

The request comes after the attorney for Campbell's former modeling agent saw an ABC News report on allegations that Campbell had received a 'blood diamond' from former Liberian president Charles Taylor. The modeling agent, Carole White, has now given a statement to prosecutors saying that she witnessed several men giving Campbell a "half dozen" uncut diamonds.

Campbell has previously declined to testify in the case, which is being tried at the Special Court for Sierra Leone in the Netherlands. Prosecutors have asked the judges to subpoena Campbell, and to call Carole White and actress Mia Farrow as witnesses.

In her statement, White, who was Campbell's modeling agent from 1992 to 2007, claims that she saw men working for Taylor giving Campbell the uncut stones after a dinner at Nelson Mandela's house in South Africa in 1997. Taylor is on trial for allegedly fomenting a bloody rebellion in neighboring Sierra Leone, and using uncut diamonds to pay for weapons that he allegedly provided to the rebels.

When ABC News asked Campbell earlier this year if she had received a blood diamond from Taylor, she slapped an ABC News producer's camera aside and denied ever receiving a diamond. She has since refused to answer questions about the alleged receipt of a gem, telling talk show host Oprah Winfrey during a May appearance on her show that talking about the alleged incident would put her family in danger.

"I don't want to be involved in this man's case—he has done some terrible things and I don't want to put my family in danger," Campbell told Oprah and her millions of viewers.

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\"I don't want to be involved in this man's case—he has done some terrible things and I don't want to put my family in danger,\" Campbell told Oprah and her millions of viewers.","publishedDate":"2010-04-23T16:36:16Z","contributors":[{"name":"ABC News","url":"","role":"","logo":"","logoAlt":""}],"modifiedDate":"2010-05-20T20:49:46Z","section":"Blotter","wordCount":295,"relatedTags":{"heading":"Related Topics","tags":[]},"lead":{"ratio":"16x9","disableForMobile":false,"type":"xl","mediaType":"image","alignCaptionToBody":true},"ads":{"Sticky":{"kvps":{"test":true}},"RightRail":{"kvps":{"test":true}},"InlineBox":{},"InlineOutstream":{"disabled":false},"Taboola":{"position":"bottom","pageType":"article","config":{"network":"abcnews-abcnews","mode":"thumbnails-a","container":"taboola-below-article-thumbnails","type":"article","targetType":"mix","placement":"Below Article Thumbnails"}}},"featuredVideo":null,"dateline":"May 20, 2010 —","seo":{},"LivePromotion":{}},"autoUpdate":{"enabled":false,"topics":["general-elections-2020-balance-of-power"]}},"upw":{"balanceOfPower":{"electoral":{"header":"Biden Projected to be President-Elect","candidates":{"democrats":{"id":1036,"displayName":"Joe Biden","shortDisplayName":"J. 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