The war crimes trial of former Liberian president Charles Taylor, accused of controlling militia that killed and raped thousands in Sierra Leone, resumed Monday in The Hague after a six month delay.Taylor, the first ex-African head of state to appear before an international war crimes tribunal, was present for the hearing in which the prosecution will call its first witness, an international expert on conflict diamonds.
He is accused of controlling rebel forces in neighbouring Sierra Leone who went on a blood diamond-funded rampage of killing, mutilation and rape during the 1991-2001 civil war. He denies the charges against him.
Before the hearing opened, Taylor, dressed in a dark suit and tie wearing gold rimmed glassed, looked contemplative with his hands clasped in front of him. The first prosecution witness, Canadian Ian Smillie, will focus on the prosecution’s claim that Taylor hatched a plan to establish a subordinate government in Sierra Leone in order to have access to the country’s abundant natural resources like diamonds and timber. Smillie has written a report for the court called “Diamonds: The RUF and the Liberian connection”. At the start of his testimony the court was shown footage of the 2006 documentary “Blood Diamonds” that Smillie had worked on.