Taylor boycotts opening of war crimes tribunal
Former Liberian President Charles Taylor today boycotted the landmark first international war crimes trial of a former African leader being held in The Hague, Netherlands.
Lawyer Karim Khan said Taylor had fired him and wanted to act as his own defence lawyer.
Khan walked out even though Presiding Judge Julia Sebutinde of Uganda repeatedly directed him to continue to represent Taylor, if only for the opening day, saying Taylor’s objections that he did not believe he could receive a fair trial could be dealt with later.
Apologising and defying threats of contempt of court, Khan gathered his files and left the room, ignoring increasingly instructions from the judges to sit down.
The court ordered the trial to continue, and Chief Prosecutor Stephen Rapp began his opening statement.
Taylor, 59, who has pleaded not guilty to 11 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment if convicted.
The prosecution had been scheduled to make a four-hour opening statement today, after which the case was due to adjourn for three weeks. It was unclear who would be sitting on the defence bench when it resumes on June 25. The trial is expected to last 18 months.
Taylor was not in court today, but in a letter to the court read earlier by Khan, he claimed he had been prevented from seeing his preferred lawyer and that his one court-appointed lawyer was heavily outgunned by the prosecution team of nine.
“It is with great regret that I must decline to attend any further proceedings in this case,” Taylor said.
“At one time I had confidence in this court’s ability to dispense justice. Over time, it has become clear that confidence has been misplaced,” Taylor’s statement said. “I will not receive a fair trial.”
Rapp disputed Taylor’s assertion that he lacked an adequate defence, noting that Taylor had been assigned a lawyer, assistant lawyers, a special investigator and court funds. “Everything that can be done is being done,” Rapp told the court.
Sebutinde, the presiding judge, repeatedly interrupted Khan’s reading of Taylor’s letter, demanding a to-the-point explanation for Taylor’s absence.
The atrocities in Sierra Leone’s 1991-2002 civil war are well-documented; fighters – often children drugged and turned into merciless killers at brutal rebel training camps – killed thousands of men, women and children and mutilated more by hacking off hands and limbs with axes and machetes. Women were raped and abducted to become sex slaves.
Taylor, a former warlord who was elected Liberia’s president in 1997, was indicted in 2003, accused of sponsoring neighbouring Sierra Leone’s rebel Revolutionary United Front in exchange for diamonds. Taylor agreed to give up power and go into exile, but was arrested in Nigeria in March 2006.
He was transferred to The Hague a year ago amid fears his trial in Sierra Leone could trigger fresh violence in the region. His trial will take place in a court room rented from the International Criminal Court.
| Related Stories: |
|
