RAPAPORT… Charles Taylor, former president of Liberia, was granted a $100,000 monthly package to cover legal costs, office space, and salary for a senior investigator. The figure is double that provided during the Yugoslavia tribunal against its former President Slobodan Milošević. Monthly legal fees for Taylor are estimated to be roughly $70,000.
The Sierra Leone Special Court, which is proceeding at The Hague, will resume the Taylor war crimes trial August 20, 2007. Taylor is charged with 11 counts of crimes against humanity in Sierra Leone, and has pleaded not guilty to each charge.
Taylor claimed he is penniless, a claim that is under investigation by the United Nations, but to move the trial along judges declared the former president indigent and awarded funds. If it is found that Taylor possesses millions in assets as some have suggested, the court would require Taylor to refund all monies awarded.