Liberia: Taylor Trial Adjourned to 2008

20 August 2007
allAfrica.com

Former Liberian President Charles Taylor’s war crimes trial in The Hague, Netherlands was adjourned until January 7, 2008 at a hearing Monday.

This was confirmed to allAfrica by Peter Andersen, a spokesperson for the Special Court for Sierra Leone.

Taylor’s new defense team told the hearing they have discovered new evidence and need time to evaluate it. According to Andersen, “the prosecution supported the motion and the judges agreed that [the delay] was a reasonable amount of time.”

The BBC reported that Taylor’s lawyer, Courtenay Griffiths, said the evidence included an archive of the former president's papers. Griffiths has represented Taylor since June 17.

"Time allowed now will help reduce the length of the trial in due course and save more," Griffiths told a hearing of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, according to a Reuters report.

Parties to the Taylor trial will meet again on September 20 for a status conference to “deal with any issues that need to be dealt with before the trial,” Andersen said, adding that “there will be a number of status conferences before the trial begins.”

Taylor is facing 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity for alleged atrocities committed during Sierra Leone’s decade-long civil war.

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