Former Liberian President Charles Taylor pleaded not guilty to war crimes in Sierra Leone on today and challenged the legality of the international court set to try him.
Making his first appearance since his arrest before the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone, Taylor listened stony-faced as the list of 11 counts of war crimes, crimes against humanity and other charges was read out.
Asked to plead, the man who was once one of Africa's most feared warlords and known as "Pappy" to his child soldiers told the judge, Samoan Justice Richard Lussick: "I do not recognise the jurisdiction of this court".
"Most definitely, your honour, I did not and could not have committed these acts against the sister republic of Sierra Leone," he added, flanked by police officers and wearing a dark blue suit and a red tie.
Taylor said he understood the charges against him, which accuse him of involvement in acts of terrorism, murder, rape, enslavement and use of child soldiers in Sierra Leone's 1991-2002 civil war.
"I think that this is an attempt to continue to divide and rule the people of Liberia and Sierra Leone and so most definitely I am not guilty," Taylor said.
The hearing was adjourned but no new date was set for Taylor's next court appearance. Remaining deadpan inside the court, he blew a kiss to family members as he left.
He was flown in handcuffs to Freetown last week, after Nigerian police thwarted his attempt to flee to Cameroon after nearly three years in exile in Nigeria.
His court-appointed defence lawyers said Taylor wanted to be tried in Sierra Leone, not in the Dutch city of The Hague as the court's president has requested, citing concerns over security.
"He wants to be tried in Sierra Leone and nowhere else," his principal defence counsel, Vincent Nmehielle, said.
During the hearing, a UN armoured vehicle stood guard outside the gates of the high-security court compound. Inside, a contingent of 250 blue-helmeted Mongolian UN troops protected the perimeter wall.
Taylor is viewed as the mastermind of intertwined wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone which killed more than 300,000 people and shocked the world with stories and images of child soldiers high on drugs killing, raping and looting.