Former Liberian president Charles Taylor on Monday pleaded not guilty to war crimes, then beamed and blew kisses, appearing confident before an international tribunal determined to set an African example for holding dictators to account.
Taylor initially said he could not plead on the charges, which stem from his alleged role in Sierra Leone's civil war, because he did not recognize the court. But after Justice Richard Lussick insisted, Taylor said calmly: "Most definitely, your honor, I did not and could not have committed those acts against the sister republic of Sierra Leone."
Lussick accepted Taylor's comment as a plea of "not guilty."
As the hour-long hearing ended, Taylor stood, smiled and blew kisses to relatives who were in the courtroom.
In a statement released later, the court's chief prosecutor, Desmond de Silva, said aylor's appearance was a watershed, proving that "those who commit atrocities and violate international humanitarian law will be held accountable ... no one is above the law."
Taiwan aims to open 18 representative offices and seven Taiwan Tourism Information Centers worldwide by next year to attract international visitors, the Tourism Administration said on Saturday. The agency has so far opened three representative offices abroad this year and would open two more before the end of the year, it said. It has also already opened information centers in Jakarta, Mumbai and Paris, and is to open one in Vancouver next month and in Manila in December, it said. Next year, it would also open offices in Amsterdam, Dubai and Sydney, it added. While the Cabinet did not mention international tourists in its
EYES AT SEA: Many marine enthusiasts have expressed interest in volunteering for coastal patrols, which would help identify stowaways and illegal fishing, the CGA said Six thousand coastal patrol volunteers are to be recruited for 159 inspection offices to enhance the nation’s response to “gray zone” conflicts, Coast Guard Administration (CGA) sources said yesterday. Volunteer teams would be established to increase the resilience of coastal defense systems in the wake of two unlawful entries attempted by Chinese over the past three months, Ocean Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said. A former Chinese navy captain drove a motorboat into the Tamsui River (淡水河) in Taipei on the eve of the Dragon Boat Festival in June, while another Chinese man sailed in a rubber boat into the Houkeng
NEXT LEVEL: The defense ministry confirmed that a video released last month featured personnel piloting new FPV drone systems being developed by the Armaments Bureau Taipei and Washington are pushing for their drone companies to work together to establish a China-free supply chain, the Financial Times reported on Friday. A delegation of high-level executives and US government officials were yesterday to arrive in Taipei to discuss with their Taiwanese counterparts collaboration on drone technology procurement and development, the report said. The executives represent 26 US manufacturers of drone and counter-drone systems, while the officials are from the US Department of Commerce and the US Department of Defense’s Defense Innovation Unit, along with Dev Shenoy, principal director for microelectronics in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense
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