Communicating Justice

January 25, 2010
The former Liberian president Charles Taylor has denied allegations that his NPFL fighters targeted certain ethnic groups during the Liberian conflict.  At his trial in The Hague, Mr. Taylor tries to present his NPFL as a well disciplined organisation. But the prosecution accused his fighters of using women as sex slaves during the conflict. Amara Bangura reports from The Hague.

Click here to listen to Amara Bangura’s report (January 25, 2010)

January 26, 2010
The prosecution in the trial of the former Liberian President Charles Taylor has accused him of using child soldiers as young as six and seven to fight for his cause. The court was told that his NPFL rebels took children from their homes, gave them drugs and guns, and forced them to kill. Mr. Taylor described the claims as lies and said he had set up an orphanage to support the needy children of his country. From The Hague, Amara Bangura reports.

Click here to listen to Amara Bangura’s report (January 26, 2010)

January 27, 2010
The Wednesday morning hearing at the Charles Taylor trial in The Hague was abandoned because Mr. Taylor and his lead defence counsel Courtenay Griffiths were not in court. The court was told that Mr. Taylor did not appear because some officers in his detention facility tampered with his confidential materials unknowingly to him. But the judges said that was not a valid reason for his absent. Amara Bangura, reporting from The Hague.

Click here to listen to Amara Bangura’s report (January 27, 2010)

January 28, 2010
A heated exchange took place between Former Liberian President, Charles Taylor and Prosecution Lawyer, Nicholas Kumjain on Thursday in The Hague. The emotional outburst between the two men came about when Mr. Taylor on cross-examination denied knowing one of his own Ambassadors. The Prosecution also accused Mr. Taylor of violating the UN travel ban to facilitate the travel of members of the Sierra Leone Rebels, the Revolutionary United Front, RUF, but Mr. Taylor denied. Joseph Cheeseman reports from The Hague.

Click here to listen to Joseph Cheeseman’s report (January 28, 2010)

January 19, 2010
The Court does not sit on Fridays