Former Liberian leader faces war crimes tribunal

TAPESCRIPT 1

Ex.16. 4 b)

1) The Delhi Police are building a case against their counterpart. To file a chargesheet against him they are banking mainly on DNA reports and mobile phone details of the accused.

2) Two men are facing sexual assault charges in separate incidents in East Moline involving a 13-year-old girl and a now 19-year-old woman.

3) A poster showing Mary and Joseph heading to Bethlehem for a census and the birth of Christ is raising the ire among some evangelicals who consider it inappropriate for the secular headcount the government will conduct next year.

4) As events develop, it becomes more and more apparent that the law enforcement agencies' ultimate aim is to achieve a total ban on the activity of this religion by finding a pretext for a criminal prosecution, a special April report by the organisation maintains.

5) Health Minister Michael McGimpsey says it is impossible to give a firm commitment on a proposed new cancer radiotherapy unit at Altnagelvin until money for the project is guaranteed.

TAPESCRIPTS

AM - Tuesday, 8 January, 2008 08:21:00

Reporter: Stephanie Kennedy

TONY EASTLEY: Liberia's former president, Charles Taylor, rose to power through a bloody civil war, and he'll be further remembered for plunging his country into economic ruin in the early 1990s.

Now, he's set a new mark. Taylor is the first African head of state to appear before an international war crimes tribunal.

He's accused of backing the rebels in a civil war in neighbouring Sierra Leone and he's facing charges of murder, rape, enslavement and conscripting child soldiers.

The 59-year-old has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Stephanie Kennedy reports on the historic trial in The Hague that's resumed after a six month delay.

STEPHANIE KENNEDY: Just over a decade ago, Charles Taylor came to power promising his country peace and prosperity.

CHARLES TAYLOR: Charles Taylor is about progress, peace, and Charles Taylor is about moving this country back into the world community of nations.

STEPHANIE KENNEDY: But six years later, under international pressure, the Liberian president was forced to resign.

CHARLES TAYLOR: I can no longer see you suffer, the suffering is enough, for you are good people. You have been very good to me through the grace of God, and I love you from the bottom of my heart.

I will always remember you wherever I am, and I say to you, God willing, I will be back.

STEPHANIE KENNEDY: Mr Taylor now stands accused of terrorising the people of neighbouring Sierra Leone by orchestrating atrocities committed by the rebels.

These militias hacked off the limbs of thousands

of people during the country's 10 year civil war that ended in 2003.

Jabati Mambu is one of those victims.

JABATI MAMBU: They went into our house, dragged me under the bed, you know, threw me outside, and they asked that they should cut my hands off. Then I said, "Well, instead I should join you." They said "No," and one of the guys, the commander, commanded a 12-year-old boy, and the guy came with an axe, and that was what they used to chop my right hand off.

STEPHANIE KENNEDY: Prosecutors allege that Charles Taylor armed, trained and controlled Sierra Leone's revolutionary rebels in exchange for blood diamonds.

The chief prosecutor at the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone is Stephen Rapp, and he acknowledges that this case is a difficult one to prove.

STEPHEN RAPP: We recognise that that's our challenge. We don't allege that Charles Taylor ever crossed the border into Sierra Leone, or that he chopped off anybody's hand himself, or raped anybody on the streets of Freetown.

But we have a challenge and we are going to meet that with a variety of witnesses from the inside. There are people that are quite close to him, there are people that further away from him that, nonetheless, hear communications or are privy to the orders that he has provided, or who observe his key lieutenants in the field in Sierra Leone giving orders, or providing material.

STEPHANIE KENNEDY: The trial is being broadcast live to Freetown, and the public has been invited to watch.

This is Stephanie Kennedy reporting for AM.

Дата добавления: 2015-03-29