SIERRA LEONE: A United Nations-backed court convicts former Liberian president Charles Taylor of war crimes, the first time an African head of state has been found guilty by an international tribunal

Record ID: 860417

  • Title: SIERRA LEONE: A United Nations-backed court convicts former Liberian president Charles Taylor of war crimes, the first time an African head of state has been found guilty by an international tribunal
  • Date: 27th April 2012
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF INTERIOR WITH PEOPLE WATCHING BIG SCREEN WITH JUDGE AND TAYLOR SEEN
  • Embargoed: 12th May 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Sierra Leone, Sierra Leone
  • City:
  • Country: Sierra Leone
  • Topics: International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA46R46ZTEPJSBZF7Q6H0OEJ5QT
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: A United Nations-backed court convicted former Liberian president Charles Taylor of war crimes on Thursday (April 26), the first time an African head of state has been found guilty by an international tribunal.
    Taylor, 64, was charged with 11 counts of murder, rape, conscripting child soldiers and sexual slavery during intertwined wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone, during which more than 50,000 people were killed.
    In the Sierra Leone capital, hundreds watched on a big screen as the verdict was read out in a process which took two hours.
    Locals in Freetown were pleased to hear a guilty verdict, one, student Isaac Bankura said the result would help to transform Sierra Leone.
    "With Mr Taylor's guilty verdict it will give confidence, it will continue to foster peace in this country. We know when there is peace there is confidence. And confidence will influence the investments, and other things," he said.
    The first African leader to stand trial for war crimes, Taylor was accused of directing Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels in a campaign of terror to plunder Sierra Leone's diamond mines for profit and weapons trading.
    Taylor denied the charges, insisting he tried to bring peace to the region and arguing his trial was a politically motivated conspiracy by Western nations.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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