Former Liberian President Taylor pleads not guilty at trial: UN

Former Liberian President Charles Taylor pleaded “not guilty” today to all charges, including crimes against humanity and other serious violations of international humanitarian law, in his first appearance at a special war crimes court in Sierra Leone, a United Nations spokesman said.

The UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone has indicted Mr. Taylor on 11 counts of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other serious violations of international humanitarian law, including sexual slavery and mutilations allegedly committed during Sierra Leone's brutal civil war.

The Court has requested that Mr. Taylor be tried at The Hague because of safety concerns. A draft resolution was circulated in the Security Council last Friday regarding the possible transfer, but the spokesman said the Court had not yet received a response to its request.

In addition to a Security Council resolution to facilitate the proposal, there needs to be a Headquarters Agreement the Government of the Netherlands must provide the legal basis for the Court to sit within its national jurisdiction.

Also last Friday, Secretary-General Kofi Annan told reporters that “everybody agrees it to be wiser” to move the trial to The Hague and noted that the Security Council had been following developments relating to Mr. Taylor “very, very closely.”

Mr. Taylor arrived in Sierra Leone by UN helicopter on Wednesday, after being recaptured in Nigeria, where he had been exiled three years ago as part of a peace deal that helped bring an end to Liberia's decade of civil war.