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Liberia: 20 Citizens to Testify Against Taylor
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The Inquirer (Monrovia)
13 December 2007
Posted to the web 13 December 2007
The Lead Prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, which is trying former Liberian President Charles Taylor for crimes he allegedly committed in that country, says the prosecution intends to present a total of 62 witnesses in the case, 20 of whom will be Liberians that would testify against the former President to show the linkages between him and the former rebels of the RUF.
Mr. Stephen Ralph told journalists today that presenting Liberian witnesses in the case against Mr. Taylor is important for the prosecution to show the connection between Mr. Taylor and the crimes he allegedly committed.
Addressing journalists yesterday in Monrovia, Mr. Ralph said the prosecution needed to have people from Liberia who can show to what extend that the former leader communicated from here to the RUF.
"We need to have people from here (Liberia) who knew what were happening on this side in terms of communication with the rebels in Liberia and the kind of assistance he provided to them," Mr.
Ralph said, why he was commenting on why there is a need for the prosecution to produce Liberian witnesses in the case.
According to him, most of the Liberian witnesses are protective witnesses, some of whom live in Liberia while others do not.
The Special Court prosecutor added: "all of these witnesses would appear in person and presumably be subject to various attempt of cross- examination by Mr. Taylor."
Mr. Ralph, who is on a visit to Liberia to hold talks with Liberian justice officials; authority of UN Mission in Liberia and the Outreach Secretariat of Liberia, a branch of the special court that is responsible to ensure that Liberians follow and understand the proceedings of the former President, said "We do not alleged that he ever committed crimes in Sierra Leone. We do not alleged that he was in Sierra Leone and so, it is necessary to have witnesses who will testify to his contacts with the rebels and that involve the linkage witnesses some of whom will be former insiders of Mr. Charles Taylor."
On the issue, as to whether there were plans to indict anyone who were members of Mr. Taylor former army, Mr. Ralph, said "We do not anticipate any further indictment at the Special Court of Sierra Leone."
He said the court has time jurisdictions, which require that the accused can only be prosecuted for crimes committed after November 30, 1996, stressing that most of the crimes for which Mr. Taylor is being prosecuted were committed.
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He added, "He (Taylor) is the only one from Liberia that we anticipate of prosecuting." Mr. Taylor unseal an indictment against the former President while he was still Head of States on June 4th, 2003, alleging that he committed heinous crimes such as war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other serious human rights violations of international humanitarian law. He was later indicted and subsequently arrested and place under the jurisdiction of the court to answer to the cahrges.
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