[ti:Charles Taylor Found Guilty of War Crimes in Sierra Leone]
[ar:Steve Ember]
[al:IN THE NEWS]
[by:www.21voa.com]
[00:00.00]This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.
[00:09.00]This week, an international court
[00:12.16]found former Liberian president Charles Taylor
[00:16.17]guilty of war crimes in Sierra Leone.
[00:20.10]Charles Taylor stood silently
[00:22.66]as Presiding Judge Richard Lussick read the judgment
[00:26.84]by a special United Nations court in The Hague.
[00:30.80]RICHARD LUSSICK: "The trial chamber
[00:33.14]unanimously finds you guilty of aiding
[00:36.29]and abetting the commission of the following crimes
[00:38.61]pursuant to article 6.1 of the statute;
[00:42.15]planning the commission of the following crimes
[00:44.89]in the attacks on Kono and Makeni in December 1998,
[00:50.28]and in the invasion of and retreat from Freetown
[00:54.49]between December 1998 and February 1999 ..."
[01:00.19]The reading of the judgment -- which included
[01:03.32]details of terrible crimes -- lasted two hours.
[01:07.76]The judges found the sixty-four-year-old former president
[01:12.54]guilty of helping rebels from the Revolutionary United Front.
[01:18.20]The rebels killed tens of thousands of people
[01:21.95]and terrorized civilians during Sierra Leone's civil war.
[01:27.50]The war lasted from nineteen ninety-one to two thousand two.
[01:32.53]Crimes by the RUF included murder, rape,
[01:37.67]drafting of child soldiers and sexual slavery.
[01:42.36]Judge Lussick said Charles Taylor
[01:45.59]was publicly involved in peace efforts
[01:49.18]while secretly financing the hostilities.
[01:52.69]The court said he received what are called blood diamonds,
[01:57.72]mined in eastern Sierra Leone.
[02:01.21]In return, he provided arms, ammunition,
[02:05.48]communications equipment and planning help to the rebels.
[02:10.81]But there was not enough proof
[02:13.00]that his influence amounted to effective command
[02:17.00]and control of the rebels.
[02:19.96]Human Rights Watch spokeswoman
[02:22.20]Geraldine Mattioli-Zeitner said
[02:24.65]she was pleased with the ruling.
[02:27.10]GERALDINE MATTIOLI-ZEITNER: "We think this is an historic moment.
[02:29.24]It's the first time a former head of state
[02:31.53]is prosecuted and judged for crimes against humanity
[02:36.17]and war crimes committed while he was in office."
[02:38.52]The former Liberian leader
[02:40.56]has denied the charges and can appeal the judgment.
[02:44.90]Sentencing is set for May thirtieth.
[02:48.06]He faces a possible life sentence.
[02:51.15]He is expected to serve any prison term in Britain.
[02:55.94]Charles Taylor was arrested in two thousand six
[03:00.13]-- three years after he was charged and resigned as president.
[03:05.18]The trial opened in two thousand seven.
[03:08.51]It was moved from Freetown, in Sierra Leone,
[03:12.89]to the Netherlands to avoid unrest.
[03:16.08]The court heard evidence from ninety-four witnesses
[03:20.67]for the prosecution and twenty-one witnesses
[03:24.17]for the defense, including Taylor himself.
[03:27.95]The case is expected to be the last major trial
[03:32.29]for the special court.
[03:34.03]It was established to try the most serious cases of war crimes
[03:39.47]during the conflict in Sierra Leone.
[03:42.62]People in Sierra Leone welcomed the conviction of Charles Taylor.
[03:47.92]There were mixed emotions in his native Liberia,
[03:51.57]where he still has some support.
[03:54.40]Tamba Cole was among Liberians who welcomed the guilty verdict.
[04:00.35]He said Taylor has now set an example
[04:04.40]to other leaders in Africa and around the world.
[04:08.51]Such crimes will no longer be accepted
[04:12.00]by the international community, he said.
[04:15.21]Charles Taylor is the first head of state to be found guilty
[04:20.29]by an international court in almost seventy years.
[04:24.66]The last time was in ninety forty-six,
[04:28.21]in the trials in Nuremberg, Germany,
[04:30.91]for war crimes during World War Two.
[04:34.21]Karl Doenitz -- who briefly led Nazi Germany
[04:38.77]after Adolf Hitler killed himself
[04:41.48]-- was found guilty of crimes against peace and war crimes.
[04:47.02]He spent ten years in prison.
[04:49.87]And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.
[04:55.06]I'm Steve Ember.
END OF TRACK. "END OF TRACK." The two men bowed. "Whoever was that person you were talking to?" she enquired, as soon as they stood together. The took of triumph faded from her eyes, she had grown worn and weary. The roses were wilting on the walls, the lights were mostly down now. Hetty, looking in to see if anything was wanted, found herself driven away almost fiercely. I only saw Master Jervie once when he called at tea time, The year 1747 was opened by measures of restriction. The House of Lords, offended at the publication of the proceedings of the trial of Lord Lovat, summoned the parties to their bar, committed them to prison, and refused to liberate them till they had pledged themselves not to repeat the offence, and had paid very heavy fees. The consequence of this was that the transactions of the Peers were almost entirely suppressed for nearly thirty years from this time, and we draw our knowledge of them chiefly from notes taken by Horace Walpole and Lord Chancellor Hardwicke. What is still more remarkable, the reports of the House of Commons, being taken by stealth, and on the merest sufferance, are of the most meagre kind, sometimes altogether wanting, and the speeches are given uniformly under fictitious names; for to have attributed to Pitt or Pelham their[112] speeches by name would have brought down on the printers the summary vengeance of the House. Many of the members complained bitterly of this breach of the privileges of Parliament, and of "being put into print by low fellows"; but Pelham had the sense to tolerate them, saying, "Let them alone; they make better speeches for us than we can make for ourselves." Altogether, the House of Commons exhibited the most deplorable aspect that can be conceived. The Ministry had pursued Walpole's system of buying up opponents by place, or pension, or secret service money, till there was no life left in the House. Ministers passed their measures without troubling themselves to say much in their behalf; and the opposition dwindled to Sir John Hinde Cotton, now dismissed from office, and a feeble remnant of Jacobites raised but miserable resistance. In vain the Prince of Wales and the secret instigations of Bolingbroke and Doddington stimulated the spirit of discontent; both Houses had degenerated into most silent and insignificant arenas of very commonplace business. "It certainly will be. Miss Widgeon," answered Maria, with strictly "company manners." "One who has never had a brother exposed to the constant dangers of army life can hardly understand how glad we all feel to have Si snatched from the very jaws of death and brung back to us." "Just plug at 'em as you would at a crow, and then go on your way whistlin'?" persisted Harry. "Hurroo!" echoed Hennessey; "that's the ticket." "Come forward, keeper," continued the baron, "and state how these arrows came into your hands!" "Yes." HoMEJULIA¾©Ïã2018ÏÂÔØ
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