Charles Taylor war crimes convictions upheld

Charles Taylor

It ruled that his convictions had been proved beyond doubt.

Taylor appeared impassive in court as the judge upheld his convictions and 50-year sentence.

He was sentenced in May 2012 for aiding rebels who committed atrocities in Sierra Leone during its civil war.

His lawyers had argued that there were legal errors during his trial.

Taylor, 65, was found to have supplied weapons to the Revolutionary United Front rebels in exchange for a constant flow of so-called blood diamonds.

He was found guilty at his trial of 11 crimes including terrorism, rape, murder and the use of child soldiers by rebel groups in neighbouring Sierra Leone during the vicious civil war of 1991-2002.

Judge Richard Lussick said at his trial that they were “some of the most heinous crimes in human history”.

Taylor has always insisted he is innocent and his only contact with the rebels was to urge them to stop fighting.

He became the first former head of state convicted by an international war crimes court since World War II.

“The appeals chamber… affirms the sentence of 50 years in prison and orders that the sentence be imposed immediately,” Judge George King told the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) on Thursday.

BBC