The trial of the first African head of state to face an international criminal court was branded “neo-colonialism” by his defence lawyer during his closing statement yesterday.
Charles Taylor’s prosecution on 11 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity was “politically-motivated” to prevent him from returning to power in Liberia, Courtenay Griffiths QC said.
Mr Taylor, 63, sat impassively in the Special Court for Sierra Leone in The Hague while his attorney rubbished the prosecution case as built on “hearsay, circumstantial evidence and broad assumptions.”
Mr Griffiths suggested that Mr Taylor’s prosecution fitted a pattern being followed by the permanent International Criminal Court, also in The Hague, which undermined the system’s lofty principles.
“This trial has been trumpeted by the prosecution as demonstrating an end to impunity,” he said.
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“Yet everyone being tried or awaiting trial are from - guess where? - Africa,” he said.
“We are disturbed by this. If indeed the Taylor trial is to set an important precedent, then it was important that he be prosecuted fairly and transparently as promised.
“It is to the shame of this prosecution that it has besmirched the lofty ideals of international criminal law by turning this case into a 21st century case of neocolonialism.”
Mr Griffiths went on to accuse the prosecution of “acting dishonestly” by paying witnesses out of a fund obtained from the United States.
While Mr Griffiths accepted that the concept of international justice was important, he wondered why Colonel Gaddafi was not in the dock.
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“This court would have been refused funding by the British government if they attempted to indict Colonel Gaddafi,” he told the courtroom.
In 2008, a key prosecution witness, former Liberian Vice President Moses Blah, testified that he was among about 180 rebels recruited by Mr Taylor and flown to Libya in the late 1980s to undergo months of military training.
Rebels from countries including Gambia, the Philippines and Sierra Leone learned to use AK-47 assault rifles and surface-to-air missiles at a military camp near Tripoli, Mr Blah said.
Colonel Gaddafi escaped indictment for training African rebels, but the International Criminal Court last week put him on notice he will be investigated for crimes against humanity against his own people.
Mr Griffiths also dismissed the sensational appearance of supermodel Naomi Campbell, who received a mysterious gift of so-called blood diamonds after a party in 1997 but refused to confirm in court last year that they came from Mr Taylor.
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“How does a gift of diamonds to a beautiful woman in South Africa link Charles Taylor to the purchase of arms which in one floated theory, arrived [in Sierra Leone]?” asked Mr Griffiths.
“The calling of Naomi Campbell was a complete disaster for the prosecution. Ms Hollis [for the prosecution] was left looking at a bleeding hole in her foot and a smoking gun in her hand saying ‘I didn’t know it was loaded,”’ he said.
Mr Taylor has denied charges of murder, rape, conscripting child soldiers and sexual slavery during intertwined wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone, in which more than 250,000 people were killed.
Prosecutors have presented evidence that he directed his henchmen to carry out atrocities in Sierra Leone, including an assault on the capital Freetown, which left thousands of people dead and many more mutilated after fighters hacked off their limbs, noses or lips. Families were burnt in their homes and children recruited and turned into cold-bloodied killers, sometimes ordered to kill their own relatives.
Prosecutors said that Mr Taylor maintained a “proxy army” in Sierra Leone in the rebel group Revolutionary United Front, which is accused of many of the worst brutalities in the civil war. Mr Taylor was alleged to have armed and directed the rebels and profited “from the wars and the crimes they committed.”
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Mr Taylor’s defence case will conclude today [THUR] followed by final rebuttal from defence and prosecution on Friday. Judges will then retire to consider their final judgement, which is expected mid-year.