A LIBERIAN warlord could be banged up in BRITAIN after he was convicted of
crimes against humanity yesterday costing taxpayers around
£65,000 a year.
Former president Charles Taylor was accused of sponsoring rebels in Sierra
Leone’s bloody ten-year civil war.
He allegedly armed Revolutionary United Front (RUF) militants in exchange for
blood diamonds, with some being given to supermodel Naomi Campbell, it was
claimed.
Taylor was found guilty of aiding and abetting war crimes at The Hague today
but he was cleared of actually ordering the atrocities.
Presiding judge Richard Lussick told the Special Court: “The chamber
finds beyond reasonable doubt that the accused is criminally responsible…
for aiding and abetting the commission of the crimes 1 to 11 in the
indictment.”
He added that the accused had substantial influence over the Sierra Leonean
RUF rebels but this fell short of effective command and control.
Taylor has become the first African head of state to be convicted by an
international court — after a trial lasting FOUR YEARS.
The trial actually ended a year ago and judges have been
considering their verdicts ever since. He was originally indicted in 2003.
Taylor, 64, has maintained his innocence throughout as he faced 11 counts
including murder, rape, sexual slavery and conscription of child soldiers.
Now Taylor could be set to serve his sentence in the UK after the Foreign
Office told The Times it would keep a promise made by former foreign
secretary Margaret Beckett to lock him up here.
Sierra Leone’s civil war left 120,000 dead and created an estimated 400,000
amputees after RUF fighters hacked off its enemies’ arms, legs, noses and
lips.
Taylor who once received military training from Colonel Gaddafi’s
Libyan regime claims the trial at the Special Court for Sierra
Leone is politically motivated. The court has already convicted eight other
rebel leaders.
Elise Keppler, from Human Rights Watch, said delivering justice is vital to
nations struggling to rebuild after atrocities.
She said: “Sierra Leone and other countries in West Africa have been
devastated by horrific human rights abuses.
“Justice for the worst crimes is a way to bring a new era in Sierra Leone and
West Africa and promote a human rights-respecting order.”