Thanks to the U.C. Berkeley Monitoring Program, below is an extensive and detailed overview of Charles Taylor’s testimony as he took the stand in his own defense in his current trial before the Special Court for Sierra Leone. This report, by Berkeley trial monitors, Kimberley Punt and Jennifer Easterday, covers Mr. Taylor’s direct testimony, where his [...]
January
4
2010
Charles Taylor on the Stand: An Overview of His Examination-In-Chief (by U.C. Berkeley monitors)
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July
7
2009
The Prosecution’s Case: What Happened?
Charles Taylor is charged with 11 counts of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in Sierra Leone from November 30, 1996, to January 18, 2002. The Prosecutor alleges that Mr. Taylor is responsible for crimes which include murdering and mutilating civilians, including cutting off their limbs; using [...]
March
3
2009
Trial Report: Dec. ‘08-Feb. ‘09
After 205 days—or 41 full weeks—of court sessions, examination of the Prosecution’s 91st and final witness concluded on January 30, 2009. Prosecutor Stephen Rapp said his team had “achieved was [they] set out to do.”(1) Proceedings ran smoothly and efficiently in these final weeks. The Defendant missed a single day of trial on the last [...]
December
1
2008
Trial Report: November 2008
Proceedings began this month on November 3, at which time Witness TF1-168, who had been scheduled to testify, was unable to be present in The Hague. In his place, the Prosecution’s next witness, Witness TF1-579, was presented to the Court. The Prosecution and Defense, however, made a joint application to adjourn until the following Monday. [...]
November
1
2008
Trial Report: October 2008
The trial against Charles Taylor rushed ahead in the month of October: the Prosecution called 32 witnesses in 17 days of trial, and the parties litigated several noteworthy procedural issues. The witnesses (all crime-base, or victim, witnesses) provided harrowing testimony about mass atrocities they say they experienced or witnessed in Sierra Leone. Nearly half of [...]
October
1
2008
Trial Report: September 2008
Proceedings began in September with the cross examination of Witness TF1-367, a former Mining Commander in Kono. The next witness to testify during this period was Witness TF1-338, a former member of the RUF. Other witnesses included former RUF insiders, RUF radio operators, crime base victims, and former police officials. An American professor also took [...]
September
1
2008
Trial Report: August 2008
Following the Court’s scheduled summer recess from July 21 to August 18, the trial of Charles Taylor got off to a slow start. The accused refused to appear in Court for the first two days of trial, in protest of heightened security measures imposed on Mr. Taylor at the detention facility by the Dutch prison [...]
August
1
2008
Trial Report: July 2008
Proceedings began on July 2, 2008 with the testimony of TF1-567 and went into recess until August after the dismissal of TFI-388, Jaward Jabati, on July 18, 2008. The court heard from two witnesses during this reporting period for a total of 35 witnesses to date in the case against Charles Taylor. The witnesses testified [...]
June
27
2008
Trial Report: May 1-June 2, ‘08
Proceedings started late in May due to Dutch holidays and were cut short one week with a court break. Following the evidence of three insider witnesses during the month of April, the trial against Charles Taylor continued in May with the testimony of a former child soldier followed by evidence from a victim of sexual [...]
June
17
2008
Trial Report: May 2008
A new trial report summarizing prosecution and defense strategies, legal issues and witness testimony for the period May 5 – May 22, 2008 can be found [pdf] here.
