Massaquoi was given immunity by the Special Court for Sierra Leone in 2002 in return for testifying against Sierra Leonean and Liberian violators of human rights in both those countries' civil wars which claimed hundreds of thousands of lives (AC Vol 50 No 15 Charles Taylor gets his day in Court)...
Massaquoi's evidence was key to the conviction of many war criminals and in 2012 the SCSL sentenced ex-President Charles Taylor of Liberia to 50 years for his offences (See Box Tale of a turncoat)...
Even Charles Taylor currently serving his sentence in a British prison was only convicted of crimes in Sierra Leone not Liberia (AC Vol 58 No 4 Taylor calls politicians from prison)...
The Finnish proceedings in Monrovia ended on 7 April after hearing the testimony of Bility who says Massaquoi tortured him in July or August 2002 on the orders of Charles Taylor when Bility was editor of the Monrovia newspaper The Analyst...
After Sankoh's arrest in Freetown in 2000 – he died while in detention in 2003 – Massaquoi began to offer his co-operation in President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah's government's campaign against the remnants of the RUF many of whom fled to Liberia to join President Charles Taylor's forces in that civil war...
'It was common knowledge that the RUF was directly supported by convicted war criminal former Liberian President Charles Taylor and frequently transited back and forth to Liberia to obtain arms and ammunition ' White told the website Justiceinfo...
Jewel fights backComplicating matters further are reports of a deepening rift between Weah and his Vice-President the highly influential ex-wife of former president Charles Taylor Jewel Howard-Taylor...
Samuel P Jackson an economist and advisor to the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Charles Taylor governments says that the Weah administration 'has not demonstrated it has developed the will or the communications strategy to deal with murmurings of corruption'...
Justice delayed but maybe not denied The influence of political allies of the imprisoned war criminal Charles Taylor on the government of President George Weah continues to grow...
Although many men and women with unsavoury reputations from the civil war era remain at liberty and at no risk of arrest the high number of ex-colleagues of Charles Taylor in positions of power is worrying many...
The mystery of the money's whereabouts remains and accusing fingers are pointing to Weah who has surrounded himself with old players from the corrupt era of the dictator Samuel Kanyon Doe and convicted war criminal Charles Taylor...
Other dubious characters around Weah are Information Minister Nagbe once a commando in Charles Taylor's rebel army...
Fawaz was known to have close ties with warlord Charles Taylor...
Shortly afterwards the US Embassy in Monrovia refused to grant a visa to Vice-President Jewel Taylor the ex-wife of former President Charles Taylor who is serving a 50-year sentence in Britain for war crimes and crimes against humanity and remains his most high-profile supporter in Liberia...
Vol 59 No 5 |
- BURKINA FASO
Diendéré led Blaise Compaoré's elite Régiment de sécurité présidentielle (RSP) presidential guard which doubled as a link between the Burkinabè ruling elite and various armed groups in West Africa including Charles Taylor's National Patriotic Front of Liberia Guillaume Soro's Forces nouvelles in Côte d'Ivoire and Sahelian groupings ranging from bands of smugglers and kidnappers to jihadists...
Of equal concern was Weah's choice of running mate: Jewel Howard-Taylor the ex-wife of jailed war criminal Charles Taylor...
Weah is widely seen as unstable unpredictable and possibly amenable to influence from the imprisoned warlord Charles Taylor...
Weah made Jewel Howard-Taylor Charles Taylor's ex-wife his running mate in order to benefit from residual support for the former Liberian leader (AC Vol 58 No 4 Taylor tries to sway vote)...
Others will be Bong County where Weah's running mate the convicted and imprisoned warlord Charles Taylor's former wife Jewel Taylor is a Senator...
Johnson's resentments of Charles Taylor date back to their falling out in 1991 so he could never endorse the Weah ticket but that doesn't mean Boakai will profit...
Snowe's long and colourful political career includes being at Charles Taylor's side (he was once his son-in-law) corruption charges and a stint as Speaker of the House of Representatives...
They include former UP Secretary-General Eugene Nagbe a former ally of Charles Taylor and an old hand in the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC)...
It was not just a populist reference to his upbringing in poverty but an eerie echo of Charles Taylor's infamous 1997 campaign slogan 'He killed my pa he killed my ma I'll vote for him...
During the civil war he was a consultant for the World Bank and was also involved in the STAR Radio project which gave a platform to many diverse opinions until because of that Charles Taylor shut it down...
Weah's running mate Senator Jewel Taylor is also seen as competent although many are uneasy about her relationship with her former husband the convicted war criminal Charles Taylor...
United Nations Ecowas and African Union diplomats say they suspect Weah got support from three sources: Qatar a network of Charles Taylor's friends in and outside of Monrovia and his own network of international soccer professionals...
This has been a strong tendency since Charles Taylor an Americo-Liberian removed himself from the presidency in 2003...
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