Former Liberian president Charles Taylor boycotted the resumption of his war crimes trial today.
His boycott of the trial in The Hague again blocked efforts to try him on charges of arming Sierra Leone rebels and orchestrating a murderous terror campaign they waged during their country's 10-year civil war.
Vincent Nmehielle, who is responsible for ensuring Taylor can mount an adequate defence to the charges, said: "I got a call this morning that Mr Taylor said he will not be in court. He said the chamber knows why he will not be in court."
Presiding judge Julia Sebutinde angrily responded: "For the record, the chamber does not know. We have not been officially informed why Mr Taylor is not in court."
When his trial opened on June 4th, Taylor also refused to leave his cell in a special wing of a Dutch seaside jail, saying he did not believe he would get a fair hearing and complaining that he had insufficient funds to pay for his defence.
Taylor also said in a letter to judges that he was firing his attorney, British lawyer Karim Khan.
There were no defence attorneys for Taylor in court today, meaning that prosecution plans to take testimony from their first witness almost certainly will not go ahead.
Agencies