Charles Taylor lives his next 50 years in jail

 

Liberia’s ex-President Charles Taylor’s life of crime and corruption collapsed yesterday. He was sentenced to 50 years in jail by a UN-backed war crimes court.

He was found guilty of aiding and abetting rebels in Sierra Leone during the 1991-2002 civil war.

Special Court for Sierra Leone judges said the sentence reflected his status as head of state at the time and his betrayal of public trust.

This 64 year old mans insists he is innocent and his lawyer still insists on putting up an appeal against the sentence.

Someone at his age, the 50-year sentence is possibly a life sentence. The rules of the court prohibit expressly the imposition of a life sentence, defence counsel Morris Anyah said.

The appeal process could last up to six months.

While Mr Taylor never set foot in Sierra Leone, his heavy footprint is there,” the judge said.

Taylor, wearing a suit and yellow tie, showed no emotion during the hearing.

“The accused has been found responsible for aiding and abetting some of the most heinous crimes in human history,” Judge Richard Lussick said.

The crimes - which took place over five years - included cutting off the limbs of their victims and cutting open pregnant women to settle bets over the sex of their unborn children, he said.

The prosecution had wanted an 80-year prison term to reflect the severity of the crimes and the central role that Taylor had in facilitating them.

Sentencing the 64-year-old former president to 50 years means in effect that Charles Taylor will spend the rest of his life locked up in jail.

His defence team was hoping judges would take into account the fact that Taylor has a family: he is a father of 14 children and an educated man.

But the judges decided his role in aiding and abetting the RUF rebels in Sierra Leone was serious enough to warrant 50 years.