Liberia: Taylor Guilty of Crimes Against Humanity

Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera television news records the moment Charles Taylor was sentenced to 50 years' jail by the Special Court for Sierra Leone in The Hague on Wednesday.
26 April 2012
allAfrica.com

Former Liberian president Charles Taylor has become the first African leader to be found guilty of war crimes by an international court.

The Special Court for Sierra Leone, set up jointly by the government of Sierra Leone and the United Nations, convicted Taylor after he was charged with 11 counts of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other serious violations of international humanitarian law for murder, rape, terror and conscripting child soldiers.

He had pleaded not guilty to all of the charges. He was found guilty on only some of the charges, according to Reuters.

Taylor stood and showed no emotion as the decision was read, Associated Press reports. A date for sentencing has not yet been set.

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