Prosecution concludes witness testimony in Taylor trial

This was the reaction of a commenter named “Aki”–a frequent and ardent supporter of Charles Taylor on the discussion section of charlestaylortrial.org–to the conclusion of prosecution witness testimony:

A whole year of the Prosecution case and nothing has been proved against Mr. Taylor. What a disgrace!

I would beg to disagree. But I’m looking forward to seeing how Aki and other Taylor supporters respond to the trial over the next few months when Taylor’s defense team will call their own witnesses. It’s easier to pick holes in an argument than to create and support a narrative for how and why things happened.

Taylor’s defense team strategy has been to deny command responsibility and discredit witnesses by pointing to possible personal motivations for testifying. The latter strategy obviously will not be relevant as they start calling their own witnesses. Will there be any new themes? What approach will the prosecution take during cross-examinations?

It looks like we won’t find out until mid-April. A Special Court for Sierra Leone press release says, “The Prosecution’s case will not officially close until certain pending motions before the judges are decided and there remains the possibility that further evidence may be presented by the Prosecution depending on these decisions.”