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Appeals chamber of Sierra Leone special court to hold first hearings Friday

Appeals chamber of Sierra Leone special court to hold first hearings Friday

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The Appeals Chamber of the Special Court for Sierra Leone will conduct its first hearings on Friday when defence counsel for a number of suspects, including former President Charles Taylor of Liberia, are expected to present arguments about immunity and other issues.

The hearings of the court, set up by the United Nations and the Sierra Leone Government to try those accused of war crimes in the country since December 1996, will be open to the public and take place in Freetown, the country's capital.

A panel of judges, led by the court's President, Geoffrey Robertson, will hear arguments by lawyers for President Taylor that his indictment is invalid because he was a Head of State and therefore immune from prosecution.

According to a statement from the tribunal, Mr. Taylor's lawyers will also argue that the court does not have the power to enforce his arrest outside of Sierra Leone.

Mr. Taylor avoided arrest in Ghana and is now in exile in Nigeria.

Counsel for former Sierra Leonean Internal Affairs Minister Sam Hinga Norman will argue that he cannot be charged with recruiting child soldiers because that is not an offence under international law, according to the court.

The judges are scheduled to hear other arguments from counsel for the two men, as well as from lawyers for three other indictees. The hearings are slated to last until 6 November. The five indictees can only be tried once these issues are resolved.