Former Liberian President Convicted of War Crimes

Taylor is the first head of state convicted by an international court since the post-World War II Nuremberg military tribunal.

“Today is for the people of Sierra Leone who suffered horribly at the hands of Charles Taylor and his proxy forces,” said prosecutor Brenda Hollis. “This judgment brings some measure of justice to the many thousands of victims who paid a terrible price for Mr. Taylor’s crimes.”

Prosecutors and defense lawyers both said they would study the lengthy judgment to see if there were grounds for appeal.

Taylor’s attorney, Courtenay Griffiths, slammed the conviction as based on “tainted and corrupt evidence.” He claimed prosecutors paid for some of the evidence.

Griffiths said Taylor took the verdicts in his stride. “Mr. Taylor has always been a stoic individual and he continued to display that stoicism,” Griffiths told reporters.

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