Charles Taylor has been sentenced to 50 years in jail. A UN-backed war crimes court sentenced the former president of Liberia Wednesday for arming Sierra Leone rebels in return for “blood diamonds”.
“The trial chamber unanimously sentences you to a single term of imprisonment for 50 years on all counts,” said Special Court for Sierra Leone judge Richard Lussick at the court based just outside The Hague.
“The accused has been found responsible for aiding and abetting some of the most heinous crimes in human history,” said Lussick.
Taylor, 64, dressed in a smart dark suit, white shirt and golden tie, listened with his eyes closed and a drawn face as the judge handed down the sentence, which Taylor can appeal.
The former president was convicted on April 26 on all 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity for aiding and abetting Sierra Leone’s Revolutionary United Front (RUF) during the country’s 1991-2001 civil war.
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