A former Liberian soldier was placed in pre-trial detention this Tuesday, September 25 by the Paris Court of Appeal. He is accused of crimes against humanity during Liberia’s civil war in the 1990s.
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The accused, who has lived in France for 20 years, had already been indicted on September 13, before being placed under judicial supervision. This court decision was taken against the advice of the national anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office, which therefore appealed and finally obtained the soldier’s provisional detention.
These legal actions follow a complaint filed by Civitas Maxima. Since 2012, this NGO has documented with the Liberian organization Global Justice and Research Project (GJRP) the crimes committed during the two civil wars, which shook the Liberiafrom 1989 to 1997, then from 1999 to 2003.
According to Civitas Maxima, the accused’s name is Saturday. He is said to be one of the commanders of the NPFL led by ex-president Charles Taylor when the latter was still a rebel leader during the first Liberian war. According to investigations by Liberia’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Taylor’s militia is responsible for nearly 64,000 human rights violations. The accused Saturday is implicated for his responsibility in several crimes against humanity committed during the conflict which is said to have left between 150,000 and 250,000 dead.
This is the eleventh case that Civitas has brought before courts abroad, although no trials have been held in Liberia. Last year, he was the former rebel commander Kunti Kamara who was convicted in France to life imprisonment for complicity in crimes against humanity.