Former Liberian president Charles Taylor is expected to confront prosecution witnesses, including an insider once close to him, when his war crimes trial resumes Monday after six months of repeated delays.
Taylor, the first former African leader standing trial before an international tribunal, was charged with 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity for his involvement in the 10-year civil war in neighboring Sierra Leone, which ended in 2002.
He allegedly supported the rebels in Sierra Leone who committed murder, rape and mutilation of civilians, and arms trafficking and the use of child soldiers, aiming to gain control of the country's mineral wealth, particularly its diamond mines.
"On Monday we are going full speed ahead. (It) will not be a day for speeches or legal argument, it will be the day that we will begin the presentation of live witnesses," Stephen Rapp, chief prosecutor of the U.N.-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone, told reporters Friday.
The first witness summoned by the prosecution to take the stand will be Ian Smillie, an expert on the trade in so-called "blood diamonds" in West Africa who will try to shed light on Taylor's plan to plunder Sierra Leone's resources.
After Smillie, a Sierra Leonean victim is scheduled to give testimony, with the third witness once to be a person of Taylor's inner circle. Both people's names were not disclosed for the sake of their safety.
Taylor's trial is being held in The Hague for security reasons. The governments of Liberia and Sierra Leone fear that his trial in Sierra Leone could spark violence in Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone. He was transferred to The Hague a year ago.
The trial was opened last June, but was delayed several times in the past six months amid claim by Taylor of inadequate defense.
On the first day of his trial, the former warlord refused to show up in the courtroom and sacked his court-appointed lawyer Karim Khan, plunging the legal proceedings into chaos.
With a new defense team led by British barrister Courtenay Griffiths in place early August, the trial was later put on hold until Jan. 7, 2008 to give the newly composed defense team additional time to prepare.
Taylor was expected to appear in court on Monday.
Source:Xinhua
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