Liberia's Charles Taylor boycotts war crimes trial
Ap, The Hague
Former Liberian President Charles Taylor boycotted the opening of his war crimes trial, and his assigned lawyer walked out of the courtroom in a dramatic opening to the landmark first international tribunal of a former African leader. Karim Khan said Taylor had withdrawn permission to represent him and was applying to act as his own defence attorney. Apologizing and defying threats of contempt of court, Khan gathered his defence files and left the room, ignoring increasingly testy instructions from the judges to sit down. The court ordered the trial to continue, and Chief Prosecutor Stephen Rapp began his opening statement. The case was due to adjourn for three weeks after the prosecution's four-hour presentation Monday, and it was unclear who would be sitting on the defence bench when it resumes June 25.
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