Charles Taylor bags 50 years jail term

Former Liberian president, Charles Taylor, has been sentenced to 50 years in prison by an international court in The Hague, Netherlands, for war crimes charges.With the court ruling, Taylor, on Wednesday, became the first former head of state to be convicted of war crimes since World War II.The Special Court for Sierra Leone, last month, convicted Taylor of supplying and encouraging rebels in neighbouring Sierra Leone, in a campaign of terror, involving murder, rape, sexual slavery and the conscription of children below 15 years.He was also found guilty of using diamond deposits in Sierra Leone to help fuel its civil war with arms and guns, while enriching himself with what had commonly come to be known as 'blood diamonds.'For victims in Sierra Leone, Taylor's verdict brought relief.The Cable Network News (CNN) reported that Taylor looked downward while the presiding judge, Richard Lussick, read the judgment.The prosecution had asked the Special Court for Sierra Leone to sentence Taylor, who was president of Liberia from 1997 to 2003, to 80 years behind bars, butthe judges found the recommendation 'excessive,' citing the 'limited scope' of the conviction in key attacks.The prosecutors had failed to prove that Taylor assumed direct command over rebels who committed atrocities.There is no death penalty in international criminal law and Taylor, 64, will serve out his sentence in a British prison.
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