AP - Charles Taylor’s (pic below) war crimes trial is ending the way it began - with the former Liberian president boycotting proceedings and claiming they are politically motivated and unfair.
Taylor’s British attorney Courtenay Griffiths stormed out of the courtroom Tuesday after judges at the Special Tribunal for Sierra Leone refused to accept his 600-page summary of the case - a key document that distills three years of testimony from the defense’s perspective.
Taylor briefly stayed in his seat but later refused to return to the courtroom after a break. Griffiths said it would have been “unseemly” if Taylor had tried to walk out with his lawyer and had struggled with his U.N. guards.
The boycott was unlikely to have an impact on the outcome of the case. The three international judges ordered the proceedings to continue, and one judge appeared visibly angry at what he called Taylor’s attempt to dictate to the court.
“If Mr. Taylor thinks he can make orders or disobey orders of this court at will, simply because he thinks it is in his best interest to do so, then he is running this court, not us,” said Judge Richard Lussick, of Samoa.
France 24 | 8 Feb 2011 - read full report
