Taylor War Crimes Trial Delayed
Lauren Comiteau February 11, 2011
Judges at the Hague have indefinitely delayed the war crimes trial of former Liberian President Charles Taylor and allowed the defense to appeal a key ruling in the case.
Mr. Taylor's three-year trial accusing him of instigating murder and widespread crimes during the brutal civil war in neighboring Sierra Leone in the 1990s had been expected to end on Friday. Instead, the three judges at the Special Court for Sierra Leone adjourned the case.
The court ruled that Mr. Taylor's defense lawyers could appeal its earlier decision refusing to let them submit a nearly 600-page document summarizing the defense case because they filed it 20 days late. Defense lawyer Courtenay Griffiths later told reporters that he would file the appeal with the court's appeals chamber next Tuesday or Wednesday and he hoped to get a ruling a week later.
Mr. Taylor, the first African leader to stand trial for war crimes, is accused of overseeing a campaign of murder, rape, mutilation, sexual slavery and conscription of child soldiers during the civil war in Sierra Leone from 1991 to 2002. The 62-year-old former head of state has denied the charges.
Prosecutors have alleged that Mr. Taylor, from his seat of power in the Liberian capital, Monrovia, directed Sierra Leone's Revolutionary Front to get "blood diamonds" illegally mined with slave labor. The rebels were notorious for hacking off the limbs of their enemies and more than 120,000 lives were lost during the civil war.
Prosecutor Brenda Hollis described Mr. Taylor this week as "a man with an insatiable greed for wealth and power."
A final ruling in the case is expected later this year.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
