Lawyers have called former Liberian President Charles Taylor to testify in the appeals case of a businessman convicted in 2006 of arms smuggling to Liberia, a spokeswoman for the Dutch public prosecutor said on Monday. Taylor, himself on trial in The Hague on war crimes charges relating to the conflict in Sierra Leone, will give evidence on Feb. 8 to a judge investigating the case of Dutchman Guus Kouwenhoven in a closed session, the spokeswoman added.A spokesman for the U.N. Special Court for Sierra Leone, which is conducting Taylor's trial, said a final decision had not yet been made on whether to allow Taylor to participate.
A Dutch court sentenced Kouwenhoven, a business associate of Taylor, to eight years in prison for arms smuggling but acquitted him of war crimes because of lack of evidence. Both the prosecution and the defence are appealing the ruling, and defence lawyers are calling Taylor as a witness.
Known as "Big Gus" in Liberia, the former executive of the Oriental Timber Corp. and the Royal Timber Co. was accused of selling arms in exchange for timber concessions in Liberia, in direct violation of a U.N. weapons embargo.