Accused Ex-President Taylor May Take The Stand

Special to the NNPA from GIN

(GIN) - Ex-President Charles Taylor may soon be taking the stand in his own defense. If so, he will face sharp questioning over charges that he took part in horrific war crimes including murder, rape, enslavement and conscription of child soldiers in neighboring Sierra Leone.

For now, attorneys for former president Taylor are pressing the U.N. tribunal to acquit their client on all 11 counts of what prosecutors called a joint criminal enterprise to control Sierra Leone’s diamond wealth and topple the government in Freetown.

Taylor’s lawyers concede that he supplied arms and ammunition to Sierra Leone rebels of the Revolutionary United Front in what became one of the most brutal civil wars in modern history. By the time the conflict ended in 2001, some 120,000 people had been killed and tens of thousands more had had their arms, legs, noses or ears cut off.

But, evidence needed to convict Taylor is lacking, defense lawyer Morris Anyah insists.

The prosecution rested its case in February after hearing from 91 witnesses in just over a year. The "Motion for Judgment of Acquittal" is now before the judges who are expected to rule on the matter in a few days. Should the motion be rejected, lawyers for Taylor say they will call him to the stand.

The three most senior surviving members of the RUF group have already been found guilty of murder, sexual enslavement, and attacks against U.N. troops.
Story posted: 4/17/2009

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