Special Court for Sierra Leone, Taylor Trial, Update 109

Taylor Trial

Special Court for Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone

English

The Prosecution’s questions during cross-examination focused primarily on Taylor’s claim that he was appointed by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Committee of Five (a group of regional leaders attempting to negotiate peace in Sierra Leone) to be the “point president for peace” for the conflict in Sierra Leone. Additionally, the Prosecution tried to prove a pattern of conduct—i.e., that the events that took place in Sierra Leone were seminal to those that took place in Liberia under the reign of the Taylorled NPFL. The cross-examination, led by Senior Trial Attorney Brenda Hollis, seemed to be based largely on the introduction of various documents the Prosecution hoped would impeach Taylor’s testimony. Several times throughout the course of cross-examination, the Prosecution successfully impeached Taylor’s testimony with prior inconsistent statements and contradictory documentary evidence. The confrontational approach of the Prosecution triggered much resistance from Taylor—he frequently took a defensive stance when answering the Prosecution’s questions.