SIERRA LEONE: Sierra Leoneans in Freetown eagerly watch former Liberian President Charles Taylor's sentencing hearing at the Hague

Record ID: 861189

  • Title: SIERRA LEONE: Sierra Leoneans in Freetown eagerly watch former Liberian President Charles Taylor's sentencing hearing at the Hague
  • Date: 18th May 2012
  • Summary: FREETOWN, SIERRA LEONE (MAY 16, 2012) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF COURT HOUSE SECURITY VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WALING TO COURT HOUSE TO WATCH SENTENCING HEARING VARIOUS OF PEOPLE SITTING IN COURTHOUSE AND WATCHING SENTENCING HEARING ON VARIOUS SCREENS (SOUNDBITE) (English) MOHAMED BAH, BUSINESSMAN, SAYING: "I am happy for the trial, as in Sierra Leone we suffer so much, the brutal war has caused many problems on us, so we are about it. The word he said concerning Sierra Leone, that Sierra Leone will taste the biterness of war, that's the payment." VARIOUS MORE OF PEOPLE WATCHING TRIAL
  • Embargoed: 2nd June 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Sierra Leone
  • City:
  • Country: Sierra Leone
  • Topics: International Relations,Politics,People
  • Reuters ID: LVA6CFNLDCB4AKEOGUTSP76J5RXM
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: Sierra Leoneans eagerly watched former Liberian President Charles Taylor's sentencing hearing in Freetown on Wednesday (May 16), after he was convicted on 11 counts by a Special court at the Hague.
    Taylor - the first head of state to be found guilty by an international tribunal since the Nazi trials at Nuremberg - told the war crimes court in The Hague that Washington had used the case to achieve regime change rather than justice.
    The first African leader to stand trial for war crimes, Taylor was convicted of aiding and abetting on 11 counts of murder, rape, conscripting child soldiers and sexual slavery during intertwined wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone in which more than 50,000 people were killed.
    But he was acquitted of ordering and planning the atrocities.
    "I am happy for the trial, as in Sierra Leone we suffer so much, the brutal war has caused many problems on us, so we are about it. the word he said concerning Sierra Leone, that Sierra Leone will taste the biterness of war, that's the payment," said Mohamed Bah a businessman who watch the hearing being broadcast live in Freetown.
    The prosecution has called for Taylor to serve jail terms amounting to 80 years, arguing that his position as president, his level of education and the duration of the conflict are aggravating circumstances.
    Taylor's defence asked the court to consider a more lenient sentence, saying 80 years amounted to life for the 64-year-old.
    Taylor's trial made international headlines, partly because of the grisly accounts of murders and mutilations, many committed by child soldiers, and partly because of Taylor's alleged gift of 'blood diamonds' - gems plundered from Sierra Leone to fund the war - to supermodel Naomi Campbell who was called as a witness for the prosecution.
    Judges are scheduled to sentence Taylor on May 30, after which both sides are likely to lodge appeals. Taylor is due to serve any sentence in a maximum security prison in Britain.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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