The Special Court for Sierra Leone will on Friday hold its first hearing in the case against Charles Taylor since the former Liberian president was moved to The Hague for security reasons, a court spokesperson said on Monday.
”This is a hearing to determine how preparations for the trial are going,” court spokesperson Peter Andersen told Agence France-Presse.
It is not clear what exactly is on the agenda for the hearing which Charles Taylor could attend.
Judge Richard Lussick of the United Nations-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone — which normally sits in Freetown — will fly to The Hague to preside over the hearing.
The trial has been moved to the International Criminal Court at The Hague to avoid any outbursts of violence in Sierra Leone or Liberia.
Taylor is seen as the single most powerful figure behind a series of civil wars in Liberia and neighbouring Sierra Leone between 1989 and 2003 which left about 400 000 people dead.
He faces a total of 11 charges of crimes against humanity, war crimes and violations of international human rights and is specifically accused of aiding rebel groups which murdered, enslaved and mutilated civilians during a civil war in Sierra Leone, Liberia’s neighbour. — AFP
