Charles Taylor, the former Liberian president and warlord, made his first appearance before a special United Nations-backed war crimes tribunal since being flown here from Africa last month. He did not speak during the 50-minute hearing, intended to pave the way for his trial on war crimes charges, but his lawyer complained that the deposed leader was locked in his cell for up to 16 hours a day, had limited access to telephones and was being served "Eurocentric" food.
Mr. Taylor faces 11 counts of charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity for his role in the war in Sierra Leone from 1991 to 2000 in which 50,000 people were killed and thousands more had limbs hacked off. Prosecutors had hoped to start the trial early next year, but Mr. Taylor's lawyer, Karim Asad Ahmad Khan, said that was unlikely. "For a case of this size and magnitude, particularly given the geographical displacement of this court from Sierra Leone, I do think that the earliest this trial can properly start is around July of next year," Mr. Khan said.
Source: New York Times
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