ICC: Charles Taylor Moved to ICC Premises

Charles Taylor, former Liberian president and suspected war criminal, has been transferred to the ICC in The Hague for trial. Taylor was arrested in northern Nigeria in March 2006 and taken to the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) in Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown.

The SCSL expressed growing concern that conducting Taylor’s trial in Freetown would cause renewed instability in the region, and requested that the trial be moved to the ICC’s premises in The Hague. The U.N. Security Council passed a resolution granting the request and on June 20, Taylor was transferred from the SCSL to the ICC.

Although Taylor will be tried on the ICC’s premises, the SCSL still has full jurisdiction over the case. Taylor is facing 11 counts of war crimes which include the mutilation of civilians, conscription of child soldiers and sexual slavery. If convicted, he will serve his sentence in the United Kingdom.


Updated June 22, 2006