Taylor behind bars
2006-03-29 22:39
Freetown - Liberia's former warlord turned president, Charles Taylor, arrived on Wednesday evening at the United Nations complex in Sierra Leone housing the special court on war crimes, a British diplomat told AFP.
Taylor was immediately taken into custody at the tribunal detention centre, after being flown by helicopter directly into the UN complex in the Sierra Leonean capital, Freetown, from neighbouring Liberia.
"It is a great day for Sierra Leoneans and Liberians," the British diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity.
"Taylor once said that Sierra Leoneans would face the bitterness of war. Now perhaps he will test the bitterness of justice," he said.
"I have won all my battles, but there are more to be fought," Desmond Da Silva, the chief prosecutor of the UN-backed special court for Sierra Leone, told reporters.
Taylor - a former guerrilla chieftain - is wanted by the court for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the Sierra Leonean civil war of 1991-2001, which claimed about 200 000 lives.
Prosecutors at the court allege Taylor sponsored the brutal rebels of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), which slaughtered, maimed, raped and enslaved tens of thousands of civilians during the civil war.
The special court has drawn up a 17-count charge sheet alleging crimes against humanity, murder, sexual violence and unlawful use of child soldiers.
Taylor is considered the single most powerful figure behind a series of civil wars in both Liberia and Sierra Leone between 1989 and 2003, which between them left about 400 000 people dead.
Taylor was captured in Nigeria early on Wednesday as he tried to flee the country following the Nigerian government's decision to hand him over to Liberia.