Deva's
initiative on Charles Taylor reaping rewards
Efforts to secure the arrest of Taylor and support for Special Court
of Sierra Leone pay off
Brussels,
30 March 2006 -- The trial of Charles Taylor, the former Liberian
president, will finally allow the war-torn country (Sierra Leone) to
get over the civil strife of the past, and bring 'the world's third
most wanted man' to justice, Nirj Deva MEP, majority group leader on
international development in the European Parliament, said today.
Mr Deva has been engaged in an ongoing effort to encourage Nigerian
President Olesegun Obasanjo to transfer Mr Taylor to the Special Court
for Sierra Leone so that he could be tried by the UN-backed war crimes
tribunal.
In February 2005, Mr Deva co-authored a European Parliament resolution
with fellow British Conservative MEP Charles Tannock, calling on the
Nigerian government to surrender Charles Taylor to the Special Court.
The Resolution was passed unanimously by the European Parliament. Mr
Deva was also instrumental in securing an €800,000 EU donation to
support keys aspects of the Court's operations.
The efforts of Mr Deva and his colleagues have been praised by Desmond
de Silva QC, the Chief Prosecutor of the Special Court, who visited
Brussels last September at Mr Deva's invitation to address MEPs on the
Special Court about the importance of bringing Charles Taylor to
justice.
Mr De Silva said:
"The support of the international community has been vital to ensure
the transfer of Charles Taylor. The European Parliament resolution was
an important part of the sequence of events which resulted in
yesterday’s arrival of Charles Taylor into our custody here in Sierra
Leone.
"The Special Court functions on voluntary contributions. Now that we
have Charles Taylor in custody, we require the financial support of
the international community to conduct the trial of Taylor. Mr Deva
has been incredibly supportive in seeking funding for the Special
Court. For justice to prevail in West Africa further EU support is now
required to successfully conclude the mandate of the Special Court.”
Mr Deva said:
"President Obasanjo of Nigeria deserves much praise for surrendering
this brutal tyrant to the Special Court.
"I have been mobilising the full authority of the European Parliament
to make sure Taylor faces trial for the heinous crimes of which he is
accused.
"The international community will now be able to send forth the
message that leaders like Charles Taylor will be brought to justice.
There is no hiding place for them."
ENDS
For a copy of a speech delivered in the European Parliament on 24
February 2005, go to:
http://www.europarl.eu.int/omk/sipade3?PUBREF=-//EP//TEXT+CRE+20050224+ITEM-014+DOC+XML+V0//EN&L=EN&LEVEL=2&NAV=S&LSTDOC=Y&MODE-CRE=SEARCH&DETAIL=4-164&LSTDOC=N
The European Parliament resolution calling on Nigeria to surrender Mr
Taylor can be found by clicking
here.
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