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Charles Taylor Refuses To Go To Court In Protest Against Treatment By Dutch Security Personnel:
By Alpha Sesay, allAfrica.com
April 28, 2009
Charles Taylor today refused to attend his trial in protest of security measures by Dutch security personnel responsible for taking
him from his detention facility to the courtroom in The Hague. When the Special Court for Sierra Leone resumed this morning, Mr.
Taylor was conspiciously absent. The former Liberian president’s defense counsel, Morris Anyah, explained to the judges that
Dutch security personel had handcuffed Mr. Taylor and kept him waiting in a vehicle for 15 minutes. This irritated Mr. Taylor and he
refused to go to court today. Mr. Anyah called this action by the Dutch security personnel unnecessary and disrespectful.
Explaining to the judges what transpired between Mr. Taylor and the Dutch security personnel, Mr. Anyah said that “he was
handcuffed, he was placed in a vehicle, and this is where the problem arose. He was left in that vehicle, for in his estimation, 10 to
15 minutes while the detention center personnel went to transport or bring another detainee from upstairs to another waiting vehicle
to be transported to the same court house. “What we submit, objectively speaking, is unnecessary and is disrepectful, is to have
the accused sit in a van waiting for several minutes while he is handcuffed,” Mr. Anyah added.
When the court adjourned and resumed in the afternoon, the judges informed the parties that they had done some investigation
into what transpired between Mr. Taylor and the Dutch security personnel.
Presiding judge, Justice Julia Sebutinde, said that the actions of the Dutch security personnel were not disrepectful to Mr. Taylor as
he was represented by his defense counsel. The learned judge said that Mr. Taylor had only been made to wait for those minutes
because the Dutch security personnel wanted to transport him to the court alongside the other detainees.
Now in our view, unanimously, we do not think that what happened this morning — whereby the authorities requested Mr. Taylor to
wait for some 15 minutes, and I don’t know whether he actually waited for 15 minutes or less – that that was necessarily an
unreasonable request, given the circumstance that there was that one team ready to bring a number of accused persons, ” Justice
Sebutinde said “Secondly, it is common knowledge that Mr. Taylor is not the only accused person standing trial in the past few
months. And that these various accused persons have been transported in similar manner from the same detention center
together, perhaps in convoy in the same way. Of course I — we — would expect Mr. Taylor to respect the conditions of the
detention center and the transportation regimes,” the presiding judge added.
As the judges ordered that the trial would continue in Mr. Taylor’s absence, the ninth defense witness, Liberian national and former
Brigade Commander for Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebel group, Martin Flomo George, concluded his testimony. He
reiterated that Mr. Taylor did not provide support for RUF rebels in Sierra Leone as alleged by prosecutors.
Befoore court adjourned today, Mr. Taylor’s tenth defense witness, a Liberian national and former member of the Armed Forces of
Liberia (AFL) during Mr. Taylor’s presidency, Karnah Mineh, took the witness’s stand.
By Alpha Sesay, allAfrica.com
April 28, 2009
Charles Taylor today refused to attend his trial in protest of security measures by Dutch security personnel responsible for taking
him from his detention facility to the courtroom in The Hague. When the Special Court for Sierra Leone resumed this morning, Mr.
Taylor was conspiciously absent. The former Liberian president’s defense counsel, Morris Anyah, explained to the judges that
Dutch security personel had handcuffed Mr. Taylor and kept him waiting in a vehicle for 15 minutes. This irritated Mr. Taylor and he
refused to go to court today. Mr. Anyah called this action by the Dutch security personnel unnecessary and disrespectful.
Explaining to the judges what transpired between Mr. Taylor and the Dutch security personnel, Mr. Anyah said that “he was
handcuffed, he was placed in a vehicle, and this is where the problem arose. He was left in that vehicle, for in his estimation, 10 to
15 minutes while the detention center personnel went to transport or bring another detainee from upstairs to another waiting vehicle
to be transported to the same court house. “What we submit, objectively speaking, is unnecessary and is disrepectful, is to have
the accused sit in a van waiting for several minutes while he is handcuffed,” Mr. Anyah added.
When the court adjourned and resumed in the afternoon, the judges informed the parties that they had done some investigation
into what transpired between Mr. Taylor and the Dutch security personnel.
Presiding judge, Justice Julia Sebutinde, said that the actions of the Dutch security personnel were not disrepectful to Mr. Taylor as
he was represented by his defense counsel. The learned judge said that Mr. Taylor had only been made to wait for those minutes
because the Dutch security personnel wanted to transport him to the court alongside the other detainees.
Now in our view, unanimously, we do not think that what happened this morning — whereby the authorities requested Mr. Taylor to
wait for some 15 minutes, and I don’t know whether he actually waited for 15 minutes or less – that that was necessarily an
unreasonable request, given the circumstance that there was that one team ready to bring a number of accused persons, ” Justice
Sebutinde said “Secondly, it is common knowledge that Mr. Taylor is not the only accused person standing trial in the past few
months. And that these various accused persons have been transported in similar manner from the same detention center
together, perhaps in convoy in the same way. Of course I — we — would expect Mr. Taylor to respect the conditions of the
detention center and the transportation regimes,” the presiding judge added.
As the judges ordered that the trial would continue in Mr. Taylor’s absence, the ninth defense witness, Liberian national and former
Brigade Commander for Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebel group, Martin Flomo George, concluded his testimony. He
reiterated that Mr. Taylor did not provide support for RUF rebels in Sierra Leone as alleged by prosecutors.
Befoore court adjourned today, Mr. Taylor’s tenth defense witness, a Liberian national and former member of the Armed Forces of
Liberia (AFL) during Mr. Taylor’s presidency, Karnah Mineh, took the witness’s stand.