Former West African warlord Charles Taylor received his first private visitors on Wednesday, exactly a week after he was arrested, as an international rights group said he must be treated humanely and given a fair trial for crimes against humanity.
The charges against Taylor include murder, sexual slavery, mutilation and the conscription of child soldiers during Sierra Leone’s decade-long conflict, with the prosecution alleging he sponsored and aided rebel groups, notably in exchange for a share in the lucrative diamond trade.
Only his two sisters in the entourage of five relatives who turned up in Freetown were allowed to see him on Wednesday, while the rest were told to await clearance from Monrovia to ascertain their relationship with Taylor.
“They said he is okay,” said one of Taylor’s sisters, Thelma Taylor Saye, who spoke in a telephone interview from Ghana.
But Taylor-Saye was annoyed that not everyone got access to Taylor on Wednesday.
“They cleared my two sisters but said my husband and my cousins should first be cleared by the government of Liberia to ensure they are Mr Taylor’s relatives.”
“I think it’s not fair because I don’t think the government in Monrovia knows the entire family of Mr Taylor. I am sure they are playing games in order to frustrate us.”
Taylor, who pleaded not guilty on Monday to 11 charges relating to atrocities in Sierra Leone’s brutal civil war, has been consulting with lawyers from the United States, Liberia and Ghana.
Relatives said he has almost completed putting together his legal counsel and will retain some of the lawyers for his trial, whose date is yet to be fixed subject to a decision on its venue.
The two sisters were allowed to spend two-and-half hours with him at the United Nations special court detention centre where he has been held for seven days.
Meantime Amnesty International said on Wednesday the Liberian ex-president leader should be ensured a fair trial.
“There is a need for full compliance of international standards for fair trials,” Amnesty International’s Freetown director Brima Sheriff said.
“His trial should be fair, it should be of international standards, and he should be treated as humanely as possible,” he said.
“He should be considered innocent until proven guilty at the end of the trial.”
One of the lawyers who have been advising Taylor, Theophilus Goule, a former attorney general and deputy justice minister in Liberia, refused to comment on the defence strategy.
“It’s unprofessional to give interviews after the case has commenced,” said Goule.
Taylor’s sister Taylor Saye said the family would like to see a fair trial but was more concerned for his life in custody at the UN-backed special court, which is heavily guarded by 250 UN Mongolian troops.
“We would like as a family to see that Mr Taylor has a fair and impartial trial. We are also concerned about his safety,” she told Agence France-Presse by telephone from Ghana where she lives.
Taylor was hauled before the court here after being caught last week trying to escape from his sanctuary in southern Nigeria. He is considered to have been the single most powerful influence behind a series of civil wars in Liberia and neighbouring Sierra Leone between 1989 and 2003 which between them left around 400 000 people dead.
The court wants him tried in The Hague, in The Netherlands, to minimise the security risk posed by his presence in the volatile region where he is thought to still command significant support.
A UN Security Council decision is expected soon on a British resolution to have the trial relocated.
The Netherlands has agreed to host the case, but wants Taylor removed from its soil the moment a final verdict is handed down — raising the question of where he would be jailed or granted asylum. – AFP