By Victoria Averill and Christo
Johnson 23 minutes ago
FREETOWN (Reuters) - A U.N.-backed court for Sierra Leone due to try
ex-Liberian leader Charles Taylor for war crimes said on Thursday it had
asked the Netherlands to hold the trial in The Hague due to security
concerns.
The Dutch Foreign Ministry said it had received, and was ready to
consider cooperating with, a request from the U.N.-backed Special Court to
move the trial to The Hague.
The request was made on Wednesday, the same day that Taylor, 58, who is
accused of multiple war crimes stemming from Sierra Leone's 1991-2002 civil
war, was delivered by U.N. forces to the court in Freetown after being
deported from Nigeria.
The request cited fears the trial in Sierra Leone of Taylor, some of
whose supporters in Liberia have threatened violence if he is brought before
a judge, could provoke unrest in both of the small and war-ravaged West
African neighbors.
Newly-elected Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, who has argued
Taylor should not face justice in a "hostile" venue, said on Thursday
the U.N. Security Council should
approve a change of venue from Sierra Leone "to a more conducive environment
such as ... The Hague."
"We are willing to cooperate, but some things have to be arranged before
you can say yes on a definite basis," a Dutch foreign ministry spokesman
said.
He added there would have to be a legal basis for the court to sit in The
Hague, such as a Security Council resolution, and Taylor would have to leave
the Netherlands after a verdict.
The requested venue change added a new twist to a dramatic few days in
which Taylor made a run for freedom late on Monday from his temporary exile
home in Nigeria, only to be captured on Wednesday and whisked to the Sierra
Leone special court.
Earlier, the court's chief prosecutor said Taylor, if convicted, faced a
possible life jail term, but not the death penalty, in what could be a
lengthy trial.
Desmond de Silva said the former warlord could make his first appearance
by Friday before a judge of the Freetown court.
BRUTAL CONFLICTS
Taylor would be asked to plead guilty or not guilty to 11 counts of war
crimes and crimes against humanity, including mutilations and sexual
slavery. He is accused of receiving diamonds in exchange for supporting
Sierra Leone rebels who often hacked off the limbs of their victims or raped
them.
This was one of a web of brutal intertwined regional conflicts in West
Africa that only ended a few years ago.
If, as expected, Taylor pleads not guilty, the prosecution and defense
would prepare for a trial, which could be months away, de Silva said.
Taylor's exile in Nigeria, part of a 2003 peace deal to end a civil war
in Liberia, had kept him out of the reach of the Sierra Leone court for
nearly three years.
De Silva said Taylor would be tried under international criminal law,
which forbids the death penalty, but can mean convicted war criminals spend
the rest of their lives in jail.
"It depends on how long he lives ... in international criminal courts
people can be sentenced to 10, 20, 30, 40 years or indeed for the rest of
their natural lives," he said.
World leaders, including U.N. chief Kofi Annan and U.S. President George W. Bush, hailed
Taylor's swift delivery to the Sierra Leone court on Wednesday as a triumph
of justice.
De Silva said a contingent of Irish U.N. rapid reaction troops were being
brought in from Liberia to reinforce security around the Special Court
compound in Freetown. The Irish will join a group of Mongolian U.N. soldiers
already there.
(Additional reporting by Niclas Mika in Amsterdam, Alphonso Toweh in
Monrovia and Pascal Fletcher in Dakar)
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