Former Liberian President Convicted of War Crimes

Taylor had pleaded not guilty to all counts, claiming in seven months of testimony in his own defense that he was a statesman and peacemaker in West Africa.

While judges convicted him of aiding and abetting atrocities by rebels, they cleared him of direct command responsibility, saying he had no direct control over the rebels he supported.

His lawyer pounced on that finding, saying the judges “rejected large areas of the prosecution theory.”

He portrayed Taylor as the leader of a small and impoverished African nation struggling to protect its borders and compared his intervention in Sierra Leone to U.S. support for rebels in El Salvador, Nicaragua and Afghanistan.

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland welcomed the verdict without commenting on Griffiths’ claims.

Nuland called the judgment, “an important step toward delivering justice and accountability for victims, restoring peace and stability in the country and the region.”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *