| Submit your comments on this article |
| Africa Subsaharan |
| Charles Taylor war crimes trial enters final phase |
| 2011-02-07 |
| [The Nation (Nairobi)] Charles Taylor's war crimes trial enters its final phase on Tuesday after three years of gripping, often gruesome, testimony on the Liberian ex-president's alleged warmongering in Sierra Leone. Prosecutor Brenda Hollis will present her closing arguments to the Special Court for Sierra Leone, insisting that Taylor armed rebels who staged one of the most brutal conflicts in modern times, in exchange for illegally mined diamonds. "Charles Taylor created, armed, supported and controlled the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) in a ten-year campaign of terror" that claimed some 120,000 lives until 2001, states the prosecution's final trial brief. Thousands of civilians had limbs severed in one of history's bloodiest civil wars, which Taylor started "by sending ammunition, weapons and manpower to the RUF and its allies", according to the prosecution. "The crimes suffered by the people of Sierra Leone would not have occurred but for Taylor's supervision and support for the RUF." Taylor, 62, received "mayonnaise jars" of so-called blood diamonds from the RUF, a handful of which he presented to supermodel Naomi Campbell at a charity dinner in South Africa in 1997, according to testimony before the court. "Many millions of dollars worth of ... diamonds, most mined by civilians under conditions amounting to slavery, were delivered to Taylor," states the prosecution brief. Lawyers for Taylor, who has pleaded not guilty "Wudn't me." to 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, will present their closing arguments on Wednesday. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 we'll always have |
| Posted by: Frank G 2011-02-07 20:26 |
| #1 Looks like Chuck has failed to do his part and die of natural causes... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2011-02-07 18:47 |