Former president stands accused at The Hague of murder, rape and torture during Sierra Leone civil war

Lawyers for the former president of Liberia Charles Taylor, who stands accused of leading a systematic campaign of murder, rape and torture during the civil war in Sierra Leone, will today claim he was “not involved”, and that he “was a peacemaker, not a warmonger”.

The 61-year old’s defence began this morning at the UN-backed special court for Sierra Leone in The Hague, where he denies charges that include enlisting and drugging child soldiers, enforcing sexual slavery and commanding and arming rebels from his presidential palace, in Monrovia, during the 11-year conflict, which ended in 2002.

Taylor, the first African head of state to be tried by an international court, has pleaded not guilty to 11 charges in a hearing that has 91 witnesses since January 2007. His defence is being led by Courtenay Griffiths, a British lawyer. Taylor will take the stand tomorrow for what is expected to be several weeks of testimony in his own defence.

The court has already heard witness testimony of radio exchanges between Taylor and the rebels, arms smuggled from Liberia to Sierra Leone in sacks of rice, and diamonds sent back in a mayonnaise jar. One former aide said he had seen Taylor eat a human liver.

“We say, and have said all along, that they are lying,” Griffiths said of the prosecution witnesses. “His case is that he was not involved – that he was a peacemaker, not a warmonger.”

The defence team has a list of more than 200 witnesses, including unnamed former African heads of state and high-ranking UN officials. Griffiths will argue that Taylor was asked by the 15-member Economic Community of West African States and the UN to help halt the atrocities in Sierra Leone.

Some 500,000 people are estimated to have been killed or systematically mutilated, or to have suffered other atrocities, in Sierra Leone’s civil war.

Some of the worst crimes were carried out by gangs of child soldiers given drugs to desensitise them to the horror of their actions. Taylor is accused of arming them in exchange for diamonds.

Taylor was forced into exile after being indicted in 2003, and was finally arrested in Nigeria in 2006. He was sent for trial in The Hague because officials feared staging the case in Sierra Leone could spark further violence.

He boycotted the start of his trial, in June 2007, and fired his attorney, holding up proceedings until January 2008, when prosecutors called their first witness.

Former president stands accused at The Hague of murder, rape and torture during Sierra Leone civil war

Lawyers for the former president of Liberia Charles Taylor, who stands accused of leading a systematic campaign of murder, rape and torture during the civil war in Sierra Leone, will today claim he was “not involved”, and that he “was a peacemaker, not a warmonger”.

The 61-year old’s defence began this morning at the UN-backed special court for Sierra Leone in The Hague, where he denies charges that include enlisting and drugging child soldiers, enforcing sexual slavery and commanding and arming rebels from his presidential palace, in Monrovia, during the 11-year conflict, which ended in 2002.

Taylor, the first African head of state to be tried by an international court, has pleaded not guilty to 11 charges in a hearing that has 91 witnesses since January 2007. His defence is being led by Courtenay Griffiths, a British lawyer. Taylor will take the stand tomorrow for what is expected to be several weeks of testimony in his own defence.

The court has already heard witness testimony of radio exchanges between Taylor and the rebels, arms smuggled from Liberia to Sierra Leone in sacks of rice, and diamonds sent back in a mayonnaise jar. One former aide said he had seen Taylor eat a human liver.

“We say, and have said all along, that they are lying,” Griffiths said of the prosecution witnesses. “His case is that he was not involved – that he was a peacemaker, not a warmonger.”

The defence team has a list of more than 200 witnesses, including unnamed former African heads of state and high-ranking UN officials. Griffiths will argue that Taylor was asked by the 15-member Economic Community of West African States and the UN to help halt the atrocities in Sierra Leone.

Some 500,000 people are estimated to have been killed or systematically mutilated, or to have suffered other atrocities, in Sierra Leone’s civil war.

Some of the worst crimes were carried out by gangs of child soldiers given drugs to desensitise them to the horror of their actions. Taylor is accused of arming them in exchange for diamonds.

Taylor was forced into exile after being indicted in 2003, and was finally arrested in Nigeria in 2006. He was sent for trial in The Hague because officials feared staging the case in Sierra Leone could spark further violence.

He boycotted the start of his trial, in June 2007, and fired his attorney, holding up proceedings until January 2008, when prosecutors called their first witness.

Former president stands accused at The Hague of murder, rape and torture during Sierra Leone civil war

Lawyers for the former president of Liberia Charles Taylor, who stands accused of leading a systematic campaign of murder, rape and torture during the civil war in Sierra Leone, will today claim he was “not involved”, and that he “was a peacemaker, not a warmonger”.

The 61-year old’s defence began this morning at the UN-backed special court for Sierra Leone in The Hague, where he denies charges that include enlisting and drugging child soldiers, enforcing sexual slavery and commanding and arming rebels from his presidential palace, in Monrovia, during the 11-year conflict, which ended in 2002.

Taylor, the first African head of state to be tried by an international court, has pleaded not guilty to 11 charges in a hearing that has 91 witnesses since January 2007. His defence is being led by Courtenay Griffiths, a British lawyer. Taylor will take the stand tomorrow for what is expected to be several weeks of testimony in his own defence.

The court has already heard witness testimony of radio exchanges between Taylor and the rebels, arms smuggled from Liberia to Sierra Leone in sacks of rice, and diamonds sent back in a mayonnaise jar. One former aide said he had seen Taylor eat a human liver.

“We say, and have said all along, that they are lying,” Griffiths said of the prosecution witnesses. “His case is that he was not involved – that he was a peacemaker, not a warmonger.”

The defence team has a list of more than 200 witnesses, including unnamed former African heads of state and high-ranking UN officials. Griffiths will argue that Taylor was asked by the 15-member Economic Community of West African States and the UN to help halt the atrocities in Sierra Leone.

Some 500,000 people are estimated to have been killed or systematically mutilated, or to have suffered other atrocities, in Sierra Leone’s civil war.

Some of the worst crimes were carried out by gangs of child soldiers given drugs to desensitise them to the horror of their actions. Taylor is accused of arming them in exchange for diamonds.

Taylor was forced into exile after being indicted in 2003, and was finally arrested in Nigeria in 2006. He was sent for trial in The Hague because officials feared staging the case in Sierra Leone could spark further violence.

He boycotted the start of his trial, in June 2007, and fired his attorney, holding up proceedings until January 2008, when prosecutors called their first witness.