The Special
Court for Sierra Leone has sentenced former Liberian president Charles Taylor
to 50 years behind bars for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
 |
The sentence
was handed down on Wednesday in The Hague. The judge said that Taylor, also a
former warlord, used his position to aid and abet rebels rather than to promote
peace. The prosecution had asked the court to sentence Taylor to 80 years in
prison but the judge found that excessive. The sentence means that Taylor, who
is 64, will almost certainly spend the rest of his life behind bars.
Last month,
Charles Taylor was convicted on 11 counts including murder, rape, sexual
slavery, recruitment of child soldiers and enslavement. Though the court ruled
that Taylor did not have command of the rebels who terrorised Sierra Leone, it
also ruled that he provided them with weapons and other supplies.
Taylor
denies his guilt and says he is the victim of a US effort to sweep him out of
power.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.