Naomi Campbell's lawyer has requested increased security for the supermodel when she testifies at an ongoing war crimes trial against former Liberian president Charles Taylor this week (05Aug10).
Campbell is set to take to the witness box in the high-profile case over claims she accepted a blood diamond from Taylor as a gift at a party in 1997.
And her legal representative, Lord Macdonald, wants special "protective measures" for his client when she flies to Holland to give testimony, according to a letter he has sent to the United Nations special court for Sierra Leone.
Macdonald asks that "members of the public, the media, the parties and the court not follow, photograph, video record or sketch Miss Campbell's transit to the court within the Netherlands and that the government of the Netherlands be respectfully invited to assist in the enforcement of this protective measure."
These measures are typically given to victims or witnesses of war crimes, according to Britain's Sunday Times.
Macdonald has also requested to be able to speak on Campbell's behalf while she is at the stand and wants to ban disclosure of details "of any sort" about her except for the testimony, which will be aired in a live feed from the trial.
Campbell has previously voiced her fears for her own safety and that of her family if she appears as a witness and testifies against Taylor, who has pleaded not guilty to 11 charges, including murder, torture, rape, sexual slavery and the use of child soldiers and terrorism during Sierra Leone's 1991-2002 civil war.
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