The Hague, May 16, 2012 (FH) - At the sentencing hearing Wednesday in The Hague, Liberian former president Charles Taylor, recently convicted on 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, expressed his sorry for the atrocities that had taken place in Sierra Leone, but declared, \u201cI am of no threat to society\u201d.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Taylor was allowed to directly address the panel of\u00a0three judges at the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) sitting in The Hague.<\/p>\n
The former president complained that from the outset the odds had been against him in court: witnesses had been \u201cpaid, threatened and coerced,\u201d he claimed. He painted a picture of a man at the mercy of a larger United States conspiracy to oust and try him.<\/p>\n
He expressed his sympathy for the victims of atrocities in Sierra Leone: \u201cI too have suffered pain and sadness\u201d, he said. But he argued that it had been a complicated situation in which he was not always kept informed. \u201cI do not condone impunity in any shape of form,\u201d he told the court, saying that he had punished his own soldiers whenever he had learnt of crimes they had committed.<\/p>\n
His lawyers and prosecutors were also each given one-hour to deliver their arguments on the length of the sentence.<\/p>\n
Chief Prosecutor Brenda Hollis told the court that they should consider the \u201cmassive scale\u201d and the \u201cextreme brutality\u201d of the crimes committed in Sierra Leone.<\/p>\n
She stressed Taylor\u2019s position as a planner of the \u201cbloodiest and most vicious chapter\u201d in the war, pointing to the atrocities committed in Kono Makeni and Freetown as part of \u2018Operation No Living Thing\u2019 carried out by Sierra Leonean rebels. She dismissed defence attempts to downplay Taylor\u2019s role. He was \u201ccritical\u201d and played a \u201ccentral role\u201d to carrying out the atrocities, she said.<\/p>\n
She also argued that the judges also had to take into account previous sentencing policy at the court, in which one rebel leader was sentenced to 50 years.<\/p>\n
Hollis reiterated that to \u201ctruly promote an end to impunity\u201d the judges should impose the maximum sentence the prosecution had earlier called for - 80 years.<\/p>\n
Courtenay Griffiths, head of the defence team, reiterated earlier arguments that Taylor was the victim of \u201cselective and vindictive\u201d justice.<\/p>\n
He also sought to undermine the prosecution\u2019s contention that Charles Taylor was a key figure or main planner in the violence in Sierra Leone. He said the defence was not contesting the events, but Taylor played \u201ca more modest role\u201d said Griffiths. When asked about the 50-year sentence for a rebel leader, Griffiths said Charles Taylor was in a completely different position.<\/p>\n
In mitigating factors, Griffiths pointed out that Taylor\u2019s crimes were mainly committed in a relatively short period during the civil war, that Taylor was a key player in the peace process in Sierra Leone and that he had voluntarily stepped down from power in order to save his country from more atrocities.<\/p>\n
To sentence him to 80 years would in effect be \u201ca life sentence\u201d he argued.<\/p>\n
Taylor was convicted on 26 April 2012 on all 11 counts of an indictment alleging war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other serious violations of international humanitarian law.<\/p>\n
The judges found that he had aided and abetted crimes committed by Sierra Leonean rebels by providing arms and ammunition, military personnel, operational support and moral support.<\/p>\n
The sentencing judgment will be delivered on Wednesday, 30 May 2012.<\/p>\n
JA\/ER\/GF<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Hague, May 16, 2012 (FH) - At the sentencing hearing Wednesday in The Hague, Liberian former president Charles Taylor, recently convicted on 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, expressed his sorry for the atrocities that had taken place in Sierra Leone, but declared, \u201cI am of no threat to society\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[555],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-24422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hirondellenews"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n