Special Court for Sierra Leone
Outreach and Public Affairs Office
PRESS RELEASE Freetown, Sierra Leone, 15 October 2013
Charles Taylor Transferred to the UK for the Enforcement of his Sentence
Charles Ghankay Taylor, the convicted former President of Liberia, was transferred today from the Netherlands and the custody of the Special Court to the United Kingdom, where he will serve the remainder of his 50-year sentence for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Mr. Taylor departed the Netherlands in a chartered plane at 10:54 a.m. local time (8:54 GMT), and arrived in the UK at 12:00 p.m. (10:00 GMT) where he was handed over to representatives of Her Majesty’s Prison Service. He was accompanied by Special Court detention and security officials.
On 4 October, pursuant to Rule 22 of the SCSL Statute and Rule 103(B) of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence, Special Court President Justice George Gelaga King signed a confidential order designating the UK as the State in which Mr. Taylor would serve his sentence. That order was made public on 10 October 2013.
Mr. Taylor’s transfer was made in furtherance of the President’s order, and in accordance with the terms set down in the Enforcement of Sentences Agreement concluded between the Court and the UK on 10 July 2007. No other country had offered or accepted to enforce the remainder of Mr. Taylor’s sentence.
Mr. Taylor was convicted by Trial Chamber II on 26 April 2012 for 11 counts of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other serious violations of international humanitarian law. On 30 May 2012 the Trial Chamber sentenced him to a term of 50 years in prison. On 26 September 2013, the Appeals Chamber upheld both his conviction and his sentence, clearing the way for today’s transfer.
Mr. Taylor will be given credit for the time he served in detention since his arrest on 26 March 2006.
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The Special Court is an independent tribunal established jointly by the United Nations and the Government of Sierra Leone. It is mandated to bring to justice those who bear the greatest responsibility for atrocities committed in Sierra Leone after 30 November 1996.
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