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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 25 September 2006

LIBERIA: April trial date for Taylor

DAKAR, 25 Sep 2006 (IRIN) - The war crimes trial of former Liberian President Charles Taylor has been tentatively set for 2 April next year at The Hague.

Trial Judge Julia Sebutinde said on Friday that it was necessary to have a fixed date for his trial to avoid continuous delays.

Last June, the United Nations Security Council authorised the transfer of the trial to The Hague from the Special Court for Sierra Leone in Freetown because of regional security concerns. The Special Court, which retains jurisdiction in the case at The Hague, indicted Taylor on 11 counts of war crimes for his alleged support of rebel fighters during Sierra Leone’s decade-long civil war.

Taylor has pleaded not guilty to the charges, which include murder, rape and recruitment of child soldiers. The fighters he is accused of supporting were notorious for hacking off the limbs of their victims. In exchange for weapons, the rebels allegedly sold Taylor diamonds.

Taylor triggered civil war in his own country when he invaded from neighbouring Cote d’Ivoire in December 1989. That conflict lasted 14 years.

Under pressure from the United States and other Western nations as Liberian rebel forces attacked the capital, Monrovia, in August 2003, Taylor stepped down as president. Nigeria granted him asylum and then was pressured to arrest him in March as he attempted to flee the country.

Taylor’s supporters in Liberia said they doubt that Taylor will get a fair trial at The Hague and have begun raising funds for his defence.

"The pace in which the processes leading to the trial is going, we are very much in doubt that he would get a fair trial. He does not have sufficient legal defence," John Richardson, a former national security adviser to Taylor told IRIN on Monday.

The court in April assigned British attorney Karim Khan, a specialist in international criminal law and human rights law, to defend Taylor.

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This material comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Quotations or extracts should include attribution to the original sources. All materials copyright © UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2006