Liberia’s Ex-Leader Is Moved to the Netherlands

Former Liberian President Charles Taylor was taken to a Dutch prison to await a U.N. war crimes trial in the killing, rape or mutilation of hundreds of thousands in West Africa.

Taylor was taken to Rotterdam aboard a U.N.-chartered plane from Sierra Leone, where he had been in custody since March 29. His hands cuffed in front of him, the former president was whisked away in a black van flanked by five uniformed police motorcyclists.

The prosecutor who drafted Taylor’s indictment said his arrival in the Netherlands was a great development for survivors of Sierra Leone’s conflict.

“This is for and about the people of West Africa,” said David Crane, a former prosecutor at the U.N.-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone. “For them to see Charles Taylor -- who was so feared -- humbled before the law, it is special because justice is being done.”

Taylor faces charges stemming from his alleged backing of rebels in Sierra Leone, guerrillas who terrorized victims by chopping off their arms, legs, ears and lips during that country’s 1991-2002 civil war. He also has been linked to violence in Liberia and elsewhere in West Africa.

Taylor’s successor as Liberia’s president, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, had called for the trial to be moved to Europe, fearing the sight of him in the dock could spark unrest in Africa.

“We’ve got 3 million Liberian people that we want to concentrate on,” Johnson-Sirleaf said.

Taylor will be held in a maximum-security prison outside The Hague, where the International Criminal Court is located. He has pleaded innocent to 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, and faces life imprisonment if convicted.