50 anos de cadeia para Charles Taylor

Liberia's ex-President Charles Taylor has been sentenced to 50 years in jail by a UN-backed war crimes court. Last month Taylor was found guilty of aiding and abetting rebels in Sierra Leone during the 1991-2002 civil war. Special Court for Sierra Leone judges said the sentence reflected his status as head of state at the time and his betrayal of public trust. Taylor, 64, insists he is innocent and his lawyer has told the BBC he will appeal against the sentence. Continue reading the main story “ Start Quote While Mr Taylor never set foot in Sierra Leone, his heavy footprint is there” End Quote Judge Richard Lussick In Sierra Leone, where victims of the war gathered in silence to watch the hearing on a large screen in a courtroom in the capital, Freetown, the sentence was welcomed. The chairman of the country's Amputees' Association, Edward Conteh, told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme it came as a "relief" as Taylor was likely to spend the rest of his life in jail. "It is a step forward as justice has been done, though the magnitude of the sentence is not commensurate with the atrocities committed," AP news agency quotes Deputy Information Minister Sheku Tarawali as saying. 'Heinous crimes' Taylor, wearing a suit and yellow tie, showed no emotion during the hearing. "The accused has been found responsible for aiding and abetting some of the most heinous crimes in human history," Judge Richard Lussick said. BBC