The family of former Liberian President Charles Taylor is facing two distressful situations. Early this month an American criminal court sentenced Chuckie Taylor, the heir apparent of the indicted former Liberian leader, to a 97 year prison term. Charles Taylor, the father of Chuckie Taylor, is facing trial on an eleven count charges for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Netherlands. So, how is the former Liberian president reacting to the 97 year sentence of his son? This was the question Joseph Cheeseman asked Charles Taylor’s Lead Defense Lawyer, Courtenay Griffiths(photo).
GRIFFITHS: Well of course as a father it’s a matter of great concern to him, and a matter of great distress. And one has to wonder what the sense is in giving a young man a sentence of that nature, almost a century behind bars. Any objective individual looking at that sentence must ask themself about the sanity of the United States justice system.
CHEESEMAN: So what has he said to you regarding this?
GRIFFITHS: Well as I say, he’s concerned about the sentence, but beyond that I’m not really prepared to divulge what has passed between be and my lay client.
CHEESEMAN: Now the Prosector told me that some unidentified persons threatened some of discouraged some of their witnesses and discouraged them from testifying against Mr. Taylor. You wouldn’t be surprised if you should face similar threats.
GRIFFITHS: Well it wouldn’t surprise me at all, because that part of the world is still riven by a degree of factionalism which one hopes would have diminished by now, but sadly hasn’t. And it may well be that people still feel strongly about that episode in their history and might feel moved to intervene and interview with witnesses in this way. One thing I can say to you hand on heart is that Mr. Taylor is not behind any orchestration of interference with witnesses. He’s certainly not behind that. Everybody knows his telephone calls from the prison are monitored. If he was giving out orders to that effect, the authorities would have known and would have refused him access to the telephone. That has not happened, precisely because he is not doing that.
CHEESEMAN: I spoke with the Prosecutor in December, and he told me that at the end of the trial, if Mr. Taylor is found guilty, the Prosecution will be applying for what he called a “supplementary hearing” for Mr. Taylor to account for Sierra Leone’s diamonds. Would this be tantamount to double jeopardy?
GRIFFITHS: Well it’s not a question of double jeopardy. I must say the Prosecution and indeed the Western media are being fairly consistent in this regard. They’ve constantly claimed that Mr. Taylor benefited enormously from the diamond wealth of Sierra Leone. They’ve had many years in which to investigate this, and they still haven’t come up with a single stone. So one wonders whether or not there is any truth in their claim which they’ve pursued vigorously all these years, that he’s sitting on diamond wealth somewhere.
CHEESEMAN: Some of the witnesses who allegedly worked with Mr. Taylor in Monrovia testified here that indeed they transported diamonds from Sierra Leone to Monrovia to Mr. Taylor.
GRIFFITHS: Nobody’s denying that diamonds may well have been transported to Monrovia, but what is quite clear is the RUF had their own contacts within the worldwide market for diamonds, whereby they themselves were capable of selling those diamonds for their own benefit. And one wonders why, giving that they had such contacts with Lebanese merchants and others, why they would need to pay some sort of a commission to Mr. Taylor to enable those transactions to go ahead. Why do you need a middleman when historically you always have those links? So I have real doubts about this Prosecution claim that Mr. Taylor is sitting on all these resources which he illegally obtained from Sierra Leone. I just don’t believe it’s true.
News Story
Lead Defense Lawyer, Courtenay Griffiths says the 97 year prison sentence of Liberia Former Anti-terrorist Unit Commander Chuckie Taylor is a matter of great distress to the father, Charles Taylor.
Mr. Griffiths said he was not prepared to disclose what Mr. Taylor told him about the nearly 100-year prison term of his son, Chuckie Taylor.
Mr. Griffiths, the head of Mr. Taylor’s legal team, wondered what the sense was in giving a young man a sentence of that nature.
He told the BBC World Service Trust that any objective individual looking at that sentence would ask himself about what he called the sanity of the American justice system.
Mr. Griffiths also denied that Mr. Taylor or his associates in Monrovia were behind an alleged threat issued out to Prosecution witnesses.
The Prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, Stephen Rapp, told the BBC Trust last month that some unidentified persons in Liberia threatened some of his witnesses from testifying against Mr. Taylor.
Mr. Griffiths also denied that his client, Mr. Taylor, was restoring diamonds looted from Sierra Leone by the rebels.
He said the RUF rebels had their own business contacts so they did not have to use the then Liberian President, Charles Taylor, as a middle man.
The Defense lawyer declared that the Prosecution case against the former Liberian leader was what he referred to as riddled with holes and inconsistencies.
Meanwhile the court continues in closed session.
Source:Courtesy of BBC World Service Trust.
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