LEIDSCHENDAM, Netherlands — Former Liberian President Charles Taylor was sentenced to 50 years imprisonment Wednesday for arming and supporting murderous rebels in Sierra Leone in return for “blood diamonds,” a landmark sentence activists hope will send a clear message to despots around the world that they will be held to account for sponsoring atrocities.
Taylor, wearing a blue suit and gold tie, stood grim-faced and silent as Presiding Judge Richard Lussick of Samoa imposed what will likely amount to a life sentence for the 64 year old.
Lussick said Taylor’s position as head of state at the time of his crimes put him in a “class of his own” when judges came to setting the sentence — one of the longest ever handed down by the Special Court for Sierra Leone or any other international tribunal.
Taylor shipped arms, ammunition and other supplies to rebels in Sierra Leone in return for personal wealth in the form of diamonds mined by slave labor and to gain increasing political clout in the volatile West Africa region.