Erstellt am: 26. 4. 2012 - 16:18 Uhr

A Landmark Day for International Justice

Reality Check: He once allegedly offered supermodel Naomi Campbell a fist full of diamonds - now Charles Taylor faces sentencing at the end of a 5 year war crimes trial

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A photo dated July 2003 shows a nine year old Liberian child soldier fighting for the Charles Taylor's government forces during the civil war in Liberia. Photo: Nic Bothma/EPA.

Charles Taylor

A special court in the Hague has convicted the former Liberian leader Charles Taylor of aiding and abetting war crimes and crimes against humanity by supporting notoriously brutal rebels in neighbouring Sierra Leone during its civil war. The Presiding Judge Richard Lussick said the warlord-turned-president had provided arms, ammunition, communications equipment and planning to rebels responsible for countless atrocities in the 1991-2002 conflict. At the beginning of Reality Check, before the reading of the verdict had been completed, John Cummins reported on the events leading up to today's ruling:

Judge Richard Lussick spent more than 2 hours reading out the verdict. The verdict is a milestone in international law - the first to be passed on a former head of state by The Hague's international courts. Taylor was found guilty of "aiding and abetting war crimes", but not of "commanding and controlling" the Revolutionary United Front (RUF). International Law and human rights expert Manfred Nowak gave Gennie Johnson his reaction to the verdict:

Syria & France

The French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe says Paris will push for a so-called "Chapter 7" resolution at the United Nations if Syrian government forces don’t pull back as agreed under the Kofi Annan peace plan. It was a chapter 7 resolution on Libya last year which paved the way for military intervention there. Governments and experts have until now insisted that Syria is not Libya and that military intervention would be a bad idea. But has the game now changed? International Security Analyist Paul Rogers.

Mali’s “new” government

One month after the military coup, Mali’s interim leaders have named a new government with three key security posts going to military officers. Gennie Johnson speaks to journalist and Mali expert Paul Melly from the Africa programme at Chatham House in London.

The EU & Education

As more demonstrations are held at Vienna University to protest against the possible introduction of study fees and the abolition of the Bachelor degree in International Development, Chris Cummins talks to MEP Heinz Becker of the ÖVP about European modernisation of higher education.

FM4 Reality Check

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