POLITICS-LIBERIA: Investigation of Taylor’s Home Halted – For the Moment

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Abdullah Dukuly

MONROVIA, Mar 18 2004 (IPS) - Efforts by the United Nations war crimes tribunal for Sierra Leone to investigate Charles Taylor were put on hold this week, when lawyers acting for the former Liberian President applied for a court order to halt a search of his residence.

A team from the UN court had arrived in Liberia’s capital, Monrovia, last week to comb through the homes of Taylor, his wife, son and close associates.

This followed the court’s decision to indict Taylor on charges of bearing the greatest responsibility for atrocities committed during Sierra Leone’s civil war in the 1990s. The former head of state stands accused of providing weapons to that country’s rebels in return for illicit diamonds.

Under the leadership of the court’s chief investigator, Allan White, the team obtained a search warrant from Liberia’s Magistrate’s Court to inspect the various residences for evidence that could be used against Taylor. This was despite the fact that he went into exile last year in Nigeria – which has shown no signs of wanted to release him to the court.

The team raided Taylor’s home in south-eastern Congo Town last Friday, escorted by heavily armed Nepalese and Nigerian soldiers from the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL). Initial resistance from local guards who claimed to be unaware of the team’s plans was dispelled after UNMIL troops held talks with the guards.

However, Taylor’s lawyers then sought a high court order to halt the search and demanded that confiscated documents, a safe and other items be returned.

The lawyers, led by Richard Flomo, Francis Garlawulo and Lancelot Koboi Johnson (former interior and justice ministers under Taylor) queried whether the UN war crimes court had jurisdiction in Liberia – an issue dismissed by current Justice Minister Kabineh Janneh.

“Liberia is a member of the United Nations and so we are under the obligation to comply with the mandate of the UN-backed Court in Sierra Leone,” he said.

Flomo and his colleagues also claimed that the search warrant contained a “series of legal flaws”.

“How can you search the home of someone in his absence?” Flomo asked journalists. “I’m not defending Taylor, but I want to set a precedent that will show that there is a law that governs our land.” These intentions were undermined by the lawyers’ failure to appear on time in court, Thursday (Mar. 18), to argue their case.

Counsel for the UN team asked for the case to be dismissed on the grounds that concerns about the searches could – and should – have been raised in the Magistrate’s court that issued the search warrant.

One of the lawyers, Jerome Verdier, said he believed efforts to halt the searches were “intended to suppress evidence, delay and frustrate the ends of justice”.

The search was put on hold pending the High Court’s decision on the matter.

When approached by journalists about the findings of the searches, White said he was unable to comment. “I appreciate your questions; but I can’t say anything now because the matter is in the court,” he told IPS.

Taylor fled to Nigeria last year after various rebel groups closed in on him in Monrovia. Liberia has since been ruled by a transitional government under the leadership of Gyude Bryant. Two rebel groups are included in the administration, as well as a number of political parties.

The transitional authority has already attracted its own share of controversy, with a parliamentary report claiming that government officials had managed to spend about 470,000 dollars on plane tickets in the course of three months.

Last week, the UN Security Council unanimously voted to freeze Taylor’s assets – this after a UN report claimed the ex-president was continuing to divert Liberian resources.

Earlier investigations by the UN apparently revealed that Taylor had also stolen funds from the Liberian International Shipping and Corporate Registry, to invest in South African property. He is also reported to have bought property in other states.

All UN member countries have been asked to locate assets held by Taylor, his wife and son – and their associates.