Court battles to find home for Taylor

UNITED NATIONS – The UN-backed court that would prosecute former Liberian President Charles Taylor has run into trouble trying to persuade any government to either imprison him or give him asylum once the trial ends, diplomats said.

The diplomats said on Tuesday that the main concern was deciding where to send Taylor if he is acquitted on 11 counts alleging war crimes and crimes against humanity during Sierra Leone’s 1991-2002 civil war. Sweden is the likely candidate to imprison him if he is found guilty, but is otherwise reluctant, they said.The issue of where to send Taylor has become a pressing one because the UN Security Council agreed not to pass a resolution transferring his trial to The Hague, Netherlands until a deal is arranged.”The problem is nobody wants to have this guy on their territory – in jail or not – for 20 or 30 years,” said one diplomat.That diplomat and several others at the UN insisted on anonymity because the talks are secret and Taylor has not been convicted yet.Last week, the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone asked that Taylor’s trial be conducted at The Hague for security reasons.He is accused of directing rebels in Sierra Leone and trafficking in guns and diamonds while in power in neighbouring Liberia.In a March 29 letter made available on Tuesday, Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot told the Security Council that the Netherlands would agree to hold the trial, but only on three conditions: that the legal arrangements be made; that a court at the Hague make facilities available; and that a country agree to take Taylor in afterward.In blunt terms, Bot wrote that arrangements must be made “to ensure that Mr.Taylor is transferred to a place outside of the Netherlands immediately after the final judgment of the Special Court.”At his first court appearance Monday before the UN-backed war crimes court, Taylor had asked through his lawyer that his case remain in Sierra Leone.Taylor, who entered a plea of not guilty on Tuesday, argued that defence witnesses would find it difficult to travel to Europe.- Nampa-APSweden is the likely candidate to imprison him if he is found guilty, but is otherwise reluctant, they said.The issue of where to send Taylor has become a pressing one because the UN Security Council agreed not to pass a resolution transferring his trial to The Hague, Netherlands until a deal is arranged.”The problem is nobody wants to have this guy on their territory – in jail or not – for 20 or 30 years,” said one diplomat.That diplomat and several others at the UN insisted on anonymity because the talks are secret and Taylor has not been convicted yet.Last week, the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone asked that Taylor’s trial be conducted at The Hague for security reasons.He is accused of directing rebels in Sierra Leone and trafficking in guns and diamonds while in power in neighbouring Liberia.In a March 29 letter made available on Tuesday, Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot told the Security Council that the Netherlands would agree to hold the trial, but only on three conditions: that the legal arrangements be made; that a court at the Hague make facilities available; and that a country agree to take Taylor in afterward.In blunt terms, Bot wrote that arrangements must be made “to ensure that Mr.Taylor is transferred to a place outside of the Netherlands immediately after the final judgment of the Special Court.”At his first court appearance Monday before the UN-backed war crimes court, Taylor had asked through his lawyer that his case remain in Sierra Leone.Taylor, who entered a plea of not guilty on Tuesday, argued that defence witnesses would find it difficult to travel to Europe.- Nampa-AP