The United Nations-backed war crimes court for Sierra Leone, which was due to rule on Friday on whether former Liberian president Charles Taylor will stand trial on charges he aided rebels in their decade-long war in the West African state, has delayed its decision, a court spokesperson said.
Spokesperson Peter Andersen said the delay is administrative and that the judges are expected to make their decision public after a court session on Monday.
Taylor, who has been in exile in Nigeria since August, was indicted in March last year on 17 counts of crimes against humanity for allegedly arming and training the notorious Revolutionary United Front.
In exchange for his help, which is believed to have included the dispatch of Liberian fighters into Sierra Leone to back the rebel advances, Taylor was allegedly paid with so-called ”blood” diamonds — among the estimated $400-million-worth of the precious gems smuggled from Sierra Leone during the war.
Taylor was served with the indictment in June of last year in Accra, Ghana, where he was engaged in negotiations to end Liberia’s own 14 years of civil war that were sparked in 1989 by his rebellion against then-president Samuel Doe.
The court’s timing infuriated regional leaders who were trying to broker the peace deal, including Nigeria’s President Olusegun Obasanjo, who eventually became Taylor’s reluctant host in exile.
Since then Obasanjo has remained firm, even flying in the face of an Interpol warrant filed in December, that his guest will stay where he is, ensconced in a luxury villa in the oceanfront town of Calabar, until Liberia summons him home to stand trial.
He has, however, warned that should Taylor be found to be meddling in Liberia’s reconstruction, all protection and immunity will be withdrawn.
Lawyer Terrence Terry filed a motion with the Freetown-based court in July demanding that the indictments be quashed. Taylor was a sitting president when he was indicted, Terry argued, and therefore immune from prosecution.
The attorney also raised ”serious questions” about the court’s jurisdiction and ability to try Taylor.
Oral arguments were heard in November and the decision has been pending since.
The anniversary of his indictment brought with it a search of his home and offices in Liberia, and court investigators have been seen numerous times in Liberia since December gathering information and potential witnesses to stack up against him.
A consortium of Liberian human rights groups was on Friday to petition the legislature to pass a law demanding that Liberian chairperson Gyude Bryant request Taylor’s handover to the special court.
His prosecution ”will also be a significant milestone in addressing the problem of impunity and human rights violations, corruption and the building of sustainable democracy in Liberia and other parts of the African continent”, the consortium said in its petition. — Sapa-AFP