LEIDSCHENDAM, Netherlands — Charles G. Taylor, the former president of
Liberia and a once-powerful warlord, was sentenced on Wednesday to 50 years in
prison over his role in atrocities committed in Sierra Leone during its
civil war in the 1990s.
The judge presiding over the
sentencing in an international criminal court near The Hague said Mr. Taylor
had been found guilty of “aiding and abetting, as well as planning, some of the
most heinous and brutal crimes recorded in human history” and that the lengthy
prison term underscored his position at the top of government during that
period.
“Leadership must be carried out by
example by the prosecution of crimes, not the commission of crimes,” the judge,
Richard Lussick, said in a statement read before the court.
Mr. Taylor was the first head of
state convicted by an international court since the Nuremberg trials after
World War II.
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| Charles Taylor. Photo Credit: The New York Times |
His legal team said it would
immediately file an appeal. "The sentence is clearly excessive, clearly
disproportionate to his circumstances, his age and his health and does not take
into account the fact that he stepped down from office voluntarily," said
Morris Anya, one of the lawyers representing Mr. Taylor.
The prosecution said it was
considering its own appeal, both to lengthen the sentence and to broaden the
responsibility attributed to Mr. Taylor for crimes committed under his
leadership.
At a news conference after the
hearing, Salamba Silla, who works with victims groups in Sierra Leone pleaded
for more help for former child soldiers, orphans and other victims of the
country's war. "You can see hundreds of them begging on the streets of
Freetown,'' she said. "Many who suffered horrendously need help to return
to the provinces, they think they cannot survive there."
Ibrahim Sorie, a lawmaker from
Sierra Leone who had been seated in the court's public gallery, said he found
the sentence fair. "It restores our faith in the rule of law, and we see
that impunity is ending for top people," Mr. Sorie said.
After more than a year of
deliberations, the Special Court for Sierra Leone found Mr. Taylor guilty in late April of crimes
against humanity and war crimes for his part in fomenting mass brutality that
included murder, rape, the use of child soldiers, the mutilation of thousands
of civilians, and the mining of diamonds to pay for guns and ammunition.
Prosecutors have said that Mr. Taylor was motivated in these gruesome actions
not by any ideology but rather by “pure avarice” and a thirst for power.
The tribunal began in Sierra Leone
and is still formally based there, but out of concern that holding hearings in
West Africa would cause unrest among those who still support Mr. Taylor, it was
moved to the town of Leidschendam outside of The Hague.
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| Charles Taylor Rule of Terror |
Eight other leading members of
different forces and rebel groups have already been sentenced by the tribunal.
Mr. Taylor is the special court’s last defendant. His trial began in 2006 and
since then, 115 witnesses have given testimony.
Mr. Taylor himself spent seven
months in the witness chair during which time he said that he would “never,
ever” have permitted atrocities.
Mr. Taylor did not speak at the
sentencing on Wednesday, but in a hearing earlier this month he offered his
sympathy — but not an apology — to the victims and their families for a
gruesome conflict that left an estimated 50,000 dead. "I express my
sadness and sympathy for crimes suffered by individuals and families in Sierra
Leone," Mr. Taylor said during a roughly 30-minute address to the court.
But he also defended himself and
seemed to explain his actions in the context of a desire for regional
stability. "What I did was done with honor," he said. "I was
convinced that unless there was peace in Sierra Leone, Liberia would not be
able to move forward."
Marlise Simons reported from
Leidschendam, Netherlands, and J. David Goodman from New York.
Source: The New York Times
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