Abuja, Nigeria – The ECOWAS Court has dismissed Charles Taylor’s claim that the government of Liberia had violated his rights, dashing his hopes of getting retirement benefits from the Liberian government. Charles Taylor, the former president of Liberia, was seeking a pension and other benefits after he was forcefully taken from office in 2003. The Liberian government defeated Taylor in the case at the ECOWAS Court in Nigeria.
According to former president Taylor, the government’s refusal to pay his benefits breached his right to equal protection, which is protected by various international human rights. Taylor, a warlord who subsequently rose to power in Liberia, lost his legal battle before Nigeria’s ECOWAS Court after his lawyer could not properly defend him. It is known that ex-President Taylor was forcebly expelled from Liberia on August 11, 2003, as a result of an eleven-count indictment for his involvement in the Sierra Leonean civil war, which broke out on March 23, 1991.
Cllr. Nyenati Tuan, Cllr. Gould, and Atty. Samora P.Z Wolokolie represented Liberia in the Court of ECOWAS’ 11th External Court Session. Charles Taylor, the former president of Liberia, is allegedly not eligible to benefit from the country by law because he did not leave honorably and is not living a private life as required by the law of the Republic of Liberia.
He filed a lawsuit in October 2021 at the Community Court of Justice, noting that the Liberian government had violated his rights by “refusing” to pay his pension and retirement benefits since his “resignation” on August 11, 2003.
Reported by: Joseph N. Kerkula
Email: jnkerkula@gmail.com
Contact: +231777376826
