Vows to Continue Campaign for Former President’s Release
Monrovia, Liberia – Solomon Weawea, Lead Campaigner of the movement advocating for the release of former Liberian President Charles Taylor, has renewed calls for what he describes as justice and fairness in the case surrounding Taylor’s conviction.
In a statement directed to Liberians who oppose the campaign, Weawea raised questions about what he considers a lack of precedent in international justice. He questioned whether a sitting president had ever been charged with and imprisoned for supposedly funding a foreign war.
Weawea argue that during the Liberian civil war, a number of regional leaders supported armed groups. He alleged that former presidents of Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, Guinea, and the Ivory Coast as having supposedly given various fighting forces financial and military support during the conflict.
Weawea questioned why, in his opinion, Taylor is still the only leader who has been held legally responsible for acts connected to regional wars in an international court. “I would like to ask a question of all Liberians who disagree with our efforts to secure the release of former President Charles Taylor,” Weawea stated. “Why should President Charles Taylor be the only one held accountable?”
He emphasised that the movement will keep up its fight for Taylor’s freedom and urged Liberians to consider the matter honestly. “We will persist in our pursuit of justice,” Weawea added. “Liberia is our shared heritage.”
Former President Taylor is presently serving his prison sentence overseas after being found guilty by the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone of aiding rebels during the country’s civil conflict.
In April 2012, the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) found him guilty on 11 counts, including aiding and abetting the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels in activities such as sexual enslavement, murder, rape, terrorism, recruiting child soldiers, and theft during the country’s civil conflict from 1996 to 2002. After being tried at The Hague, Taylor was convicted of organizing attacks on Kono, Makeni, and Freetown while abusing his position as president to provide the RUF with weapons.
Reported by: Mac Eric Garmoyou Freeman
