I watched part of Charles Taylor’s trial this morning. Here are some highlights, though this is by no means a comprehensive summary of what happened today. And I might not have gotten every word accurate in the quotes below.
- Taylor denied having control over Foday Sankoh. “Foday Sankoh was older than me. I would not disrespect him….If anything he could have given me military training.”
- “I gave [Sankoh] my respect. I gave him a house over there. He did not discuss with me how he ran his revolution. The only thing we talked about was how effective I could be with keeping what was going on in Sierra Leone out of Liberia. That was my main concern.”
- Taylor’s lawyer, Courtenay Griffiths, asked Taylor why Sankoh kept coming to Gbarnga if Taylor couldn’t give him ammunition. “When he wanted to rest he would come to Gbarnga,” Taylor said.
- Taylor denied that Sankoh ever brought him diamonds in exchange for weapons. By answering some questions in the hypothetical, Taylor used a speaking strategy other witnesses have used in the trial. He said, “If he did he got a very bad deal because I didn’t have the arms to give him.”
- Taylor said, “I’m a pan-African revolutionary. I have respect for myself. All these things to try to make me look like scum. Not Charles Ghankay Taylor.”
- Taylor said NPFL fighters were in Sierra Leone for a period of time, but that this ended after Sankoh complained to Taylor about NPFL fighters looting and otherwise misbehaving.
- Taylor denied having foreign bank accounts or assets spread around the world. He gave permission to anyone who has evidence of this to come before the court and show him. “If a bank account is found anywhere in the world that has any money belonging to Charles Taylor, then his whole life is a lie. It never happened.”
Does anyone know why Taylor likes to speak in the third person?
Also, I’ve just noticed that the Special Court website has posted transcripts for each day of the trial last week. You can see them here.
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