Liberias fængslede eks-præsident har indledt sin appelsag ved den FN-støttede særdomstol i Haag i Holland – den idømte ham i maj i fjor 50 år bag lås og slå for at bistå og opmuntre oprørere i nabolandet Sierra Leone under borgerkrigen 1991-2002.
Defence lawyers have called the verdict a “miscarriage of justice” and want the conviction to be quashed (ophævet). The prosecution, however, wants the sentence extended to 80 years, saying he also gave orders to the rebels during the ekstremely gruesome conflict, reports BBC online Tuesday.
In the court’s original judgement, he was acquitted (frifundet) on these charges, with the judge finding that the prosecution had failed to prove its claims.
Taylor, 64, became the first former head of state to be convicted of war crimes by an international court since the Nuremberg trials of Nazis after World War II.
Throughout his trial, the former Liberian leader, who was arrested in 2006, maintained his innocence.
Taylor’s lawyers have filed more than 40 grounds of appeal, arguing that the trial chamber’s findings were based on “uncorroborated hearsay (ubekræftede rygter) evidence”.
The court was set up in 2002 to try those who bore the greatest responsibility for the war in Sierra Leone in which some 50.000 people were killed.
It found Taylor guilty on 11 counts of war crimes, relating to atrocities that included rape and murder, and described by one of the judges as “some of the most heinous (afskyvækkende) crimes in human history”.
In return for so-called blood diamonds, Taylor provided arms and both logistical and moral support to Sierra Leone’s Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels – prolonging the conflict in Sierra Leone, notes BBC.
