FORMER LIBERIAN PRESIDENT CHARLES TAYLOR TO FACE 80-YR JAIL SENTECE

Convicted war criminal Charles Taylor says he sympathises with victims of the violence in Sierra Leone as he faces 80-year jail sentence

• Former Liberian President Charles Taylor begs for leniency before sentencing at The Hague for war crimes
• Taylor's aid to rebels in decade-long Sierra Leone civil war contributed to horrific violence against civilians
• Court hears of rape, public executions, amputations, decapitations of civilians
• Taylor due to be sentenced on May 30
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Guilt: Charles Taylor was convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity

Former Liberian President Charles Taylor begged for leniency ahead of his sentencing for a catalogue of brutal war crimes saying he has sympathy for Sierra Leone’s civil war.

Taylor was found guilty of 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder, rape, and conscripting child soldiers, during a landmark ruling by judges at the U.N.-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone in April.
He asked judges at The Hague to render their sentence against him in a spirit of ‘reconciliation, not retribution’.
However, he stopped short of admitting any wrongdoing, apologizing for his actions, or expressing remorse.
Prosecutors said there was no reason for leniency, given the extreme nature of the crimes, Taylor's ‘greed’ and misuse of his position of power.
‘The purposely cruel and savage crimes committed included public executions and amputations of civilians, the display of decapitated heads at checkpoints, the killing and public disembowelment of a civilian whose intestines were then stretched across the road to make a check point, public rapes of women and girls, and people burned alive in their homes,’ wrote prosecutor Brenda Hollis in a pre-hearing brief. 

The court found his aid was essential in helping rebels in Sierra Leone continue their bloody rampage during the West African nation's decade-long civil war, which ended in 2002 with more than 50,000 dead.
It was the first time a former head of state had been convicted of war crimes since the aftermath of World War II.

Attacked: Victims of the brutal crimes committed during the Sierra Leone civil war nurse their wounds

Crimes: Taylor was found guilty of conscripting child soldiers during the decade-long Sierra Leone civil war

Child soldier: Youngsters were forced into the army during Liberia's violent civil war, where women were held as sex slaves and civilians had limbs hacked off with machetes

Innocent victim: A young girl, who has had both of her hands amputated, rests at a camp for amputees and wounded from Sierra Leone's civil war

Taylor is due to be sentenced on May 30, with prosecutors demanding an 80-year prison term, and defence lawyers arguing he should at least be given a sentence that leaves him some hope for life after release.
‘I express my sadness and deepest sympathy for the atrocities and crimes that were suffered by individuals and families in Sierra Leone,’ Taylor said.
He insisted his actions had actually been done to help stabilize the region and claimed he never knowingly assisted in the commission of crimes.
‘What I did...was done with honour,’ he said.
‘I was convinced that unless there was peace in Sierra Leone, Liberia would not be able to move forward.’

Chaos: The decade-long civil war saw tens of thousands of people killed and many more horrifically mutilated during the bloody conflict

Bloody: A soldier loyal to Taylor keeps watch on the streets of Monrovia during fighting

Judges found Taylor helped the rebels obtain weapons in full knowledge they would likely be used to commit terrible crimes, in exchange for payments of ‘blood diamonds’ often obtained by slave labor.
Defence attorney Courtenay Griffiths argued for a sentence that reflects Taylor's indirect role: he was found guilty only of aiding the rebels, not leading them, as prosecutors originally charged.
He said Taylor's conviction has been ‘trumpeted...as sending an unequivocal message to world leaders that holding office confers no immunity’ from war crimes prosecution.
'But the reality is that while many Western countries have funded militias that have committed atrocities, no Western leader has ever been indicted by a war crimes tribunal, he said.

Real prize: Miners from Sierra Leone wash gravel in large sieves looking for rough diamonds

Country's gems: Diamonds from Koidu town in eastern Sierra Leone, which sparked horrifying civil war that would later inspire the film Blood Diamond

The lesson is ‘if you are a small, weak nation, you may be subject to the full force of international law, whereas if you run a powerful nation you have nothing to fear,’ Griffiths said.
Taylor added that once Britain and the U.S. decided they wanted him out of power, his conviction was a foregone conclusion.
‘The conspiracy was born, all systems put into motion, and here I stand today,’ he said. ‘I never stood a chance.’
Leaked Wikileaks diplomatic cables admitted into evidence appeared to show the U.S. government hoped Taylor would never return to power, but the cables did not prevent his conviction.

Judgement day: Judges Teresa Doherty, Richard Lussick and Julia Sebutinde, rear row from left to right, will sentence Charles Taylor on May 30

Griffiths said the 80 year sentencing demand is ‘manifestly disproportionate and excessive’ for Taylor, who is 64.
In court, Hollis scoffed at that.
She said Taylor's involvement in the crimes was ‘more pervasive than that of the most senior leaders’ of the Sierra Leone rebels who have already been sentenced.
The longest sentence so far, 52 years, was handed down to rebel leader Issa Sesay, who testified on Taylor's behalf in 2010.
Taylor fled into exile in Nigeria after being indicted by the court in 2003 and wasn't arrested for three years.
While the Sierra Leone court is formally based in that country's capital, Taylor's trial is being staged in Leidschendam, a suburb of The Hague, Netherlands, for fear holding it in West Africa could destabilize the region.