The Hague, Netherlands: Charles Taylor, former president of Liberia, has been convicted by a UN war crimes court on the account of aiding Sierra Leone’s rebels in exchange of war diamonds.
“The chamber finds beyond reasonable doubt that the accused is criminally responsible… for aiding and abetting the commission of the crimes 1 to 11 in the indictment,” presiding judge Richard Lussick told the Special Court for Sierra Leone, based on the outskirts of The Hague, as he read the verdict.
However, the charges were denied by the ex-president and termed the trial a politically motivated one and a conspiracy by Western nations.
This is the first time an African head of state has been found guilty by an international tribunal.
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