An
international tribunal in The Hague has found former Liberian President Charles
Taylor criminally responsible for crimes against humanity committed during
Sierra Leone's civil war.
A United
Nations-backed court in The Hague has unanimously found Charles Taylor guilty
of aiding and abetting atrocities in connection with Sierra Leone's civil war.
"The
trial chamber finds you guilty of aiding and abetting of all these
crimes," presiding judge Richard Lussick told the Special Court for Sierra
Leone in The Hague following a preamble of well over two hours.
Lussick
said the former warlord, who was later elected president of Libera, provided
arms, ammunition, communications equipment and planning to rebels in the
1991-2002 Sierra Leone civil war. The judge said Taylor’s support to the rebels
was "sustained and significant."
The
64-year-old Taylor faced 11 charges related to the decade-long war in
neighboring Sierra Leone, where he was linked to two rebel groups, and is
expected to appeal the conviction. He was put on trial on allegations of
funnelling arms, ammunition and mining equipment to the rebels in return for
“blood diamonds.”
The charges
included acts of terrorism, murder, rape, sexual slavery and enslavement.
Rebels from
the Revolutionary United Front, described by prosecutors in the case as
Taylor's “proxy army,” were notorious for their brutality, routinely cutting
off the limbs of their enemies.
Many of their victims testified during the
trial, which began in 2007 and was completed just over a year ago.
Among those
who testified during the trial was the British model Naomi Campbell, who said
she had received diamonds from Taylor.
Taylor, who
served as president of Liberia from 1997 to 2003, had pleaded not guilty to the
charges against him. He claims to have been the victim of a political
witch-hunt aimed at preventing him from returning to public office.
The reading
of the verdict was broadcast live on international news networks. The court is
to reconvene for sentencing on May 30. Taylor could face a maximum sentence of
life imprisonment.
More than
120,000 people are believed to have died in Sierra Leone's civil war.
The trial
is seen as precedent-setting, as Taylor is the first former head of state to
convicted by an international court since the Nuremberg trials after World War
II.
pfd/acb (AP, dpa)
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