Taylor faces long wait for war crimes trial

THE HAGUE – Liberia’s former president Charles Taylor spent his first day in detention in The Hague on Wednesday awaiting trial for war crimes as preparations to put him in the dock gathered pace.Once one of Africa’s most feared warlords, Taylor was flown Tuesday to the Netherlands from Sierra Leone where he had been detained since his capture in late March.

His trial could start in January, a court official in the capital of Sierra Leone Freetown said Wednesday. “At the moment we anticipate the beginning of the trial to be January, 2007,” Harpinder Athwal, a special assistant to the court’s prosecutor, told a news conference.Athwal said the prosecution had handed over 32 000 pages of evidence to Taylor’s defence team.”Now the defence would have to start going through them to determine what their perspective is on it and work with us to settle a date to begin the trial,” she said.Taylor, once one of Africa’s most feared warlords, was flown to the Netherlands on Tuesday from Sierra Leone where he had been detained since his capture in late March.Defence lawyer Karim Khan has complained that the transfer of his client without notice had disrupted the defence’s preparations.”One of the repercussions of the movement of Charles Taylor to The Hague is that we are not able to finalise the composition of our team,” Khan told a scheduled status conference at the war crimes tribunal in Freetown.The British-based lawyer also made an application for Taylor “to receive and make calls in previously the same way he was allowed while in Freetown to ensure the proper administration of justice.”- Nampa-AFP”At the moment we anticipate the beginning of the trial to be January, 2007,” Harpinder Athwal, a special assistant to the court’s prosecutor, told a news conference.Athwal said the prosecution had handed over 32 000 pages of evidence to Taylor’s defence team.”Now the defence would have to start going through them to determine what their perspective is on it and work with us to settle a date to begin the trial,” she said.Taylor, once one of Africa’s most feared warlords, was flown to the Netherlands on Tuesday from Sierra Leone where he had been detained since his capture in late March.Defence lawyer Karim Khan has complained that the transfer of his client without notice had disrupted the defence’s preparations.”One of the repercussions of the movement of Charles Taylor to The Hague is that we are not able to finalise the composition of our team,” Khan told a scheduled status conference at the war crimes tribunal in Freetown.The British-based lawyer also made an application for Taylor “to receive and make calls in previously the same way he was allowed while in Freetown to ensure the proper administration of justice.”- Nampa-AFP