Int’l Court Affirms Taylor Sentence

An international appeals court in The Netherlands on Thursday upheld the 50-year sentence of former Liberian president Charles Taylor, who was convicted for aiding war crimes in Sierra Leone. The Special Court for Liberia in The Hague, backed by the United Nations, rejected Taylor’s appeal that there had been mistakes in evaluating the evidence and applying the law. Taylor was found guilty last year for encouraging and supplying violent rebels in Sierra Leone, who carried out a campaign of murder, rape, sex slavery, and conscription of child soldiers. Taylor also used Sierra Leone’s diamonds to fuel the civil war and enrich himself.