Former Liberian President Convicted of War Crimes

Griffiths also dismissed evidence given by the most famous prosecution witness — supermodel Naomi Campbell, who told judges she had received diamonds at a function in South Africa, but did not link them to Taylor. Her testimony was “a large, fat, zero,” the lawyer said.

The only other head of state convicted by an international court was a Nazi naval commander, Karl Doenitz, who briefly led Germany after Adolf Hitler’s suicide and was convicted by a military tribunal at Nuremberg after World War II.

Others have been indicted but not convicted — yet.

Former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo is jailed in The Hague awaiting trial at the International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed as he attempted to cling to power last year after losing a presidential election.

The ICC last year indicted Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi with crimes against humanity as he resorted to murdering and persecuting civilians to put down protests against his regime, but he was captured and killed by rebel fighters before he could face a court of law.

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