Nigeria, Feb. 7 -- Prosecutors in the war crimes trial of Gibril Massaquoi alleged Friday that the defendant tried to influence witnesses in the case.

State Prosecutor Tom Laitinen told presiding judge Juhani Paiho that a cleaner at the prison where Mr Massaquoi was being held in pretrial detention found handwritten notes in the restroom of the family meeting area, following a meeting Mr Massaquoi had with family on September 30th.

"It turned out that these notes were written by Massaquoi and contained detailed instructions for the witnesses on the case," Mr Laitinen said. The notes were submitted into evidence with the police pre-trial investigation materials which totalled 3800 pages.

Mr Massaquoi's lawyer Kaarle Gummerus dismissed t...