Witnesses in ex-Liberia prez Taylor’s trial fear travel bans

Mike Corder

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Potential defense witnesses for Charles Taylor are refusing to testify at the former Liberian president’s war crimes trial for fear of being slapped with U.N. travel bans, Taylor’s lawyer told a court Monday.

Taylor, 59, is to go on trial June 4 on 11 charges, including terrorism, murder, rape, sexual slavery, mutilation and recruiting child soldiers linked to his alleged support for rebels in Sierra Leone’s brutal 1991-2002 civil war.

He has pleaded innocent and faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment if convicted by the Special Court for Sierra Leone.

At a pretrial hearing in The Hague, Taylor’s lawyer Karim Khan said his efforts to build a defense were being hampered by the perceived threat of U.N. sanctions.

“Numerous individuals … are unwilling to speak to the defense [because] they are petrified of having travel bans imposed upon them and having their assets frozen by the Security Council because they are associated to the defense of Mr. Charles Taylor,” Khan said.

Khan said he would file a motion asking judges at the court to grant witnesses protection from sanctions.

He said that the possibility of sanctions “would amount to witness intimidation, whether it comes from a group or a party or even as august a body … as the Security Council of the United Nations.”

The Sierra Leone court usually sits in the capital, Freetown, but Taylor’s trial is to be held in a courtroom rented from the International Criminal Court in The Hague because of fears the case could trigger fresh violence.

Taylor sat in court listening to proceedings wearing a dark suit and brown tie. Judges also allowed him to wear sunglasses in the windowless courtroom because of an eye infection.

At Monday’s hearing, slated to be the last before the trial starts next month, Khan also complained that the court was not funding an adequate defense team for Taylor.

Taylor has two attorneys and three legal assistants, while prosecutors have a trial team twice that size.

Taylor’s lawyers are seeking to appeal the decision setting the start date for the trial, arguing that they have not had enough time to prepare.

Prosecutors say that in exchange for diamonds smuggled out of Sierra Leone, Taylor provided rebels with arms, ammunition, communication equipment, as well as alcohol, drugs and cigarettes.