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President Charles G. Taylor
(1997-2003) In March 2006 mounting international pressure resulted in his arrest at the Nigerian-Cameroon border which Taylor was about to cross in an attempt to escape from justice. He was arrested by the Nigerian authorities - embarrassed by his escape from Calabar - and immediately flown to Liberia where he made a brief stop-over. Within an hour after arrival at Robertsfield International Airport he was flown by helicopter to Freetown and delivered to the Sierra Leone War Crimes Tribunal. Charles Taylor may stand trial in Freetown or, more likely, in the Netherlands. US President George Bush, known for his adament rejection of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, made a remarkable U-turn and publicly pleaded for Taylor's transfer to The Hague, the Netherlands, to stand trial. In principle the Dutch have agreed to host the Taylor trial. However, only under certain conditions, like e.g. a UN Security Council resolution authorizing it and that Taylor will not stay in the Netherlands after the trial. The trial will be held under the jurisdiction of the Sierra Leone War Crimes Tribunal. Prosecution by the The Hague based International Criminal Court is limited to crimes dating after July 1, 2002, the date on which the Statute of the ICC entered into force. The Special Court for Sierra Leone was set up jointly by the Government of Sierra Leone and the United Nations. It is mandated to try those who bear the greatest responsibility for serious violations of international humanitarian law and Sierra Leonean law committed in the territory of Sierra Leone since 30 November 1996.
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'God willing, I will be back', Charles Taylor boasted on August 11, 2003 when he boarded a Nigerian plane, accompanied by Presidents Kuofor of Ghana and Mbeki of South Africa, which brought him to his luxurious exile in Calabar, Nigeria. He did not foresee that he would come back handcuffed.
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