S.Leone amputees welcome Taylor sentence

Tears rolled down the face of double amputee Al Hadji Jusu Jarka as he welcomed a 50-year prison term for Liberia’s former leader Charles Taylor for backing the Sierra Leone rebels who mutilated him.“At last, justice has been done and Taylor has paid the price for the sufferings and pain he caused us,” said Jarka, who wears prosthetic arms after rebels in 1999 cut off both upper limbs while pinning him to a mango tree.“The curtain has now been drawn on Charles Taylor. I hope he will be haunted by his deeds as he languishes in jail.”Jarka -- who like many in the capital has followed the trial closely -- said he would have liked to see some remorse from Taylor, convicted of aiding and abetting Sierra Leone rebels in exchange for “blood diamonds”.Taylor’s lack of remorse was also highlighted by judge Richard Lussick, who said Taylor therefore should not benefit from any mitigation.A stunned silence, and a few gasps, filled courtroom buildings in Freetown where hundreds had gathered in front of giant television screens to hear Taylor’s fate, being decided at a court outside The Hague.As the sentence was read out, those watching showed little outward joy. They had sat stonily as Lussick gave a harrowing account of the gruesome crimes committed during the 11-year conflict.The audience included victims, leaders and civil society representatives.Human rights activist Charles Mambu said of the sentence: “That’s excellent! It shows that it’s no longer business as usual. Us, as human rights defenders, we are happy over the sentence.”Eldred Collins, a rebel spokesman during the war, is now the chairman of their political offshoot the Revolutionary United Front Party (RUFP).