|
 |
UN:
WAR
CRIMES TRIAL OF FORMER LIBERIAN LEADER POSTPONED BY UN-BACKED
COURT: 20/8/2007 (MaximsNews.com,
UN)
|
UNITED NATIONS - / www.MaximsNews.com@
U.N./
- 20 August 2007 – The
war crimes trial of former Liberian president Charles Taylor has been postponed
until early next year after judges at the United Nations-backed Special Court
for Sierra Leone (SCSL) agreed today to give defence lawyers more time to study
the evidence.
Mr.
Taylor’s counsel applied for a delay until 7 January so they could evaluate
some 40,000 pages of evidence recently disclosed by prosecutors, SCSL
spokesperson Solomon Moriba told the UN News Service from The Hague, where the
trial is being held.
Justices
Julia Sebutinde (presiding), Teresa Doherty and Richard Lussick approved the
application during a status conference, one in a series that will be held over
the next few months to assess the progress of the prosecution and the defence in
presenting their cases.
Mr.
Taylor is facing 11 counts of war crimes, crimes against humanity and other
serious violations of international humanitarian law, including mass murder,
mutilations, rape, sexual slavery and the use of child soldiers, for his role in
the decade-long civil war that engulfed Sierra Leone, which borders Liberia.
A year
ago the Security Council authorized the staging of Mr. Taylor’s trial at The
Hague, citing reasons of security and expediency. Although the trial will be
held at the premises of the International Criminal Court (ICC), it will remain
under the exclusive jurisdiction of the SCSL.
The
Special Court, established in January 2002 by an agreement between the Sierra
Leonean Government and the UN, is mandated to try “those who bear greatest
responsibility” for war crimes and crimes against community committed in the
country after 30 November 1996.
Last
month it reached an agreement with the United Kingdom that will mean Mr. Taylor
will be imprisoned in the UK if he is convicted.
Labels: United
Nations, U.N.,
~~~~~
MaximsNews.com, An Independent Voice from the
U.N., provides commentary and analysis from
leading world figures: King Abdullah II
(Jordan), HRH Prince Zeid Ra'ad Zeid Al-Hussein
(Jordan), Sir Brian Urquhart, Hans Blix, Amb.
Richard Holbrooke, Anwar Ibrahim, Bianca Jagger,
Dr. Nafis Sadik, Shashi Tharoor, Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, Noeleen Heyzer, Kerry
Kennedy, Ian Williams, Stephen Schlesinger, Sen.
Timothy E. Wirth, Marc Morial, Amb. Jayantha
Dhanapala (Sri Lanka), Amb. Pierre Schori
(Sweden), Amb. William H. Luers, Susan Roosevelt
Weld, Rory Kennedy, Mehri
Madarshahi, J. Michael Adams, Gloria Feldt,
Jeffrey Laurenti, Rodney D. Smith, Ashley
Bommer, Rory
O'Connor, Genevieve Stamper, Max Stamper and
others.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MaximsNews Network® LLC is a Global News Network reaching over 30,000 in the International Community. It is associated with MediaChannel.org and Globalvision News Network, global news and media information services with more than 350 news affiliates in 135 countries.
MaximsNews®LLC is in partnership with the United Nations Foundation and the Better World Fund.
Established in 1999.
The views expressed are the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of MaximsNews®
LLC.
MaximsNews.com
U.N. ® LLC News for the United Nations and the International Community -
www.MaximsNews.com
| MaximsNews@MaximsNews.com |
Please
contact us about Republishing:
Syndication@MaximsNews.com ©Copyrights 1999 - 2007, MaximsNews® LLC. All rights
reserved.
|
