Switzerland freezes Liberian leader's assets at request of Sierra Leone special court

Responding to a request from the Special Court for Sierra Leone, Switzerland announced today that various personal and business accounts of President Charles Taylor of Liberia had been blocked or frozen last week.

The Court's Prosecutor, David Crane, thanked the Swiss authorities for their rapid and decisive support of the tribunal, which had made the request to block assets held by Mr. Taylor. "The money may be evidence of the joint criminal enterprise that we allege Taylor, with several other indictees, conducted in Sierra Leone over a period of year," Mr. Crane said.

The request to block assets was made pursuant to the original arrest warrant issued against Mr. Taylor on 7 March, which requests countries "to identify and to locate assets owned by the accused located within the territory of any State and adopt provisional measures to freeze such assets."