"Liberia’s Charles Taylor to be incarcerated in Britain" by Mike Corder | Associated Press, October 11, 2013
THE HAGUE — Former Liberian president Charles Taylor, who was convicted for sponsoring atrocities in Sierra Leone, will serve his 50-year sentence in a British prison, Justice Minister Jeremy Wright announced Thursday in a letter to Parliament.
Taylor, 65, is the first former head of state convicted by an international war crimes court since World War II.
Let me know when George W. Bush and Tony Bliar arrive in the dock.
The Special Court for Sierra Leone found him guilty in April 2012 of 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity including terrorism, murder, rape, and using child soldiers. His conviction and sentence were upheld on appeal last month.
Related: The Chuck Taylor Story
In his letter to Britain’s Parliament, Wright called Taylor’s conviction, ‘‘a landmark moment for international justice.’’
In the Liberian capital, Monrovia, Taylor’s brother-in-law Arthur Saye said Taylor should serve his sentence in Rwanda like other rebels convicted by the Sierra Leone court.
‘‘Mr. Taylor is an African; he’s someone who believes in eating his African foods and what have you,’’ Saye said.
‘‘And what happened took place in Africa. Yes, they tried him in another country, but why must he be subjected to serve his term in a white man’s country?’’
Saye expressed fears for Taylor’s safety if he is imprisoned in Britain.
The court’s president, Judge George Gelaga King, said in a written order dated Oct. 4 and released Thursday that in choosing a British prison he took account of Taylor’s family situation and the ability of other possible states to ensure his physical safety.
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Related:
"Former president Charles Taylor enjoys playing tennis with fellow inmates in The Hague but is worried about his safety once he is transferred to Britain to serve out his sentence for war crimes and crimes against humanity, according to new documents released by his lawyers."
"50-year sentence upheld for Charles Taylor; Ex-president of Liberia guilty of ’90s war crimes" by MARLISE SIMONS and ALAN COWELL | New York Times, September 27, 2013
PARIS — A panel of appeals judges upheld a 50-year prison sentence on Thursday against Charles G. Taylor, the former president of Liberia, on charges of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in a case that had been cast as a watershed for modern human rights law....
The hunt for Taylor’s suspected fortune could well resume.
Taylor has ties to the Boston area. He arrived on a student visa in 1972 and studied economics at Chamberlayne Junior College in Newton and Bentley College in Waltham.
He became a leading Liberian dissident, and in 1977 he returned to Liberia, joining Samuel Doe's government after a coup in 1980.
After a falling out with Doe, Taylor was accused of embezzling $1 million from the government and fled back to Boston. He was arrested in Somerville in 1984 but escaped from a Plymouth jail in 1985.
He "escaped," huh?
See:
CIA Helped Charles Taylor Escape Custody
They sprung him.
Globe Backs Down on Liberian Dictator Story
Proving they are nothing but a CIA mouthpiece.
Under the tribunal’s rules, victims in Sierra Leone, particularly thousands who suffered during the attack in 1999 on the capital of Freetown, are entitled to seek reparations in national courts.
Experts believe these civil cases could go on for years because Taylor’s widely rumored assets have proved elusive.
Investigators have succeeded in freezing $8 million held by his relatives and associates.
Related: Sunday Globe Special: The Liberian Looter
Also see: Like Father, Like Son
But, according to court filings, the tribunal failed to discover the final destination of millions traced through Liberian and other banks while he was in power and the court’s investigators were unable to prove his presumed ownership in a number of companies.
With Taylor claiming he was “partially indigent,” the nations that helped fund the tribunal — the United States was the largest donor — have had to cover his legal bills and the broader expenses of a trial that cost more than $20 million.
All to prosecute our man in Africa during a time of austerity?
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Also see: Court upholds 50-year sentence for Liberia’s Charles Taylor
Related(?):
"Along with the undergraduate applicants, all candidates for graduate programs in law, pharmaceutical studies, and six other graduate programs also failed, according to a university press statement. After the dismal results were in, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf laid out a plan Wednesday to relax admission standards. Some of the applicants are accusing the university of fraud, and are organizing a march on Friday to demand a refund of their exam fees."
