Post date: Apr 24, 2012 11:31:38 AM
Taylor, the first African leader to go before an international tribunal, faced 11 counts of murder, rape, conscripting child soldiers and sexual slavery covering atrocities during the wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone in the 1990s that killed more than 250,000 people.
Prosecutors at the Special Court for Sierra Leone accused Taylor, 63, of running a "blood diamond" trade, using profits from the sale of precious stones to buy weapons and enrich himself.
A verdict is due on Thursday (April 26) in the U.N. war crimes court trial of Charles Taylor, for atrocities in Sierra Leone. The trial of the former Liberian president has seen the appearance of a British supermodel and a U.S. actress over the issue of whether Taylor profited from so called 'blood diamonds'.
THE HAGUE, THE NETHERLANDS (SPECIAL COURT FOR SIERRA LEONE) - The U.N. war crimes court trying Charles Taylor for atrocities in Sierra Leone will deliver a verdict on April 26, nearly five years after the former Liberian president went on trial in the Netherlands.
The court hearings were delayed by the former leader's refusal to cooperate and efforts to fight its jurisdiction. He denied all the allegations of wrongdoing.
In August 2010, supermodel Naomi Campbell testified at the trial. Prosecutors said that during a visit to South Africa in 1997, Taylor gave Campbell a large rough cut diamond after a dinner hosted by Nelson Mandela. Campbell said she had been given "dirty looking pebbles" after the dinner in South Africa, but did not know if they were diamonds from Taylor.
Actress Mia Farrow told the court in August 2010 that she had heard Campbell say she had been given a "huge diamond" by Taylor. Farrow said Campbell had then said she intended to give the diamond to the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund.
Taylor was first indicted in 2003, along with 12 other suspects. The outcome of his case will be closely watched for legal milestones in the emerging system of international justice.
In June 2006 he was moved to The Hague due to fears that a trial in Sierra Leone could kindle unrest in the country or neighbouring Liberia.
During the trial, prosecutors called 91 witnesses to support their charges that child soldiers under Taylor's command were sent to battle drugged with amphetamines and marijuana. A verdict against Taylor could set legal precedents in the area of child soldiers. If convicted, he will serve his sentence in Britain.
The tribunal, which has no death penalty, was established by Sierra Leone and the United Nations to punish those responsible for serious human rights abuses in the African nation since 1996.
It has completed cases against 8 of the 13 suspects, who have received sentences of up to 51 years in prison.