Charles Taylor judge’s trial bombshell

Published on 26/11/2012 00:00

Former Liberian president Charles Taylor should have walked free and not been jailed for war crimes because there was not enough evidence to prove he was guilty beyond reasonable doubt, a judge involved in his trial said in a magazine.

Justice Malick Sow’s criticism of how the trial was conducted and of the final decision-making process are likely to be seized on by Taylor’s defence lawyers as part of his appeal.

Taylor, 64, was jailed in May for 50 years for helping Sierra Leonean rebels commit what the United Nations-backed court in The Hague called some of the worst war crimes in history.