Swedish lawmakers have approved a law that makes it possible for the Scandinavian country to imprison former Liberian president Charles Taylor if he is convicted of war crimes by a UN-backed tribunal, government officials said on Thursday.
The decision by the Swedish parliament could remove a major obstacle that has stalled the former warlord's trial in Sierra Leone. Foreign Ministry officials said Sweden had not yet officially decided whether it would accept a request to take in Taylor. Such a step would need final approval from the government.
The UN-backed court asked the Netherlands-based International Criminal Court to host the trial, fearing Taylor's trial in Africa might revive regional instability. The Netherlands has agreed to host the trial -- on condition a third country agrees to jail Taylor if he is convicted.
Sweden had previously rejected the request to take Taylor, saying Parliament had not approved a special agreement with the Sierra Leone court that would make it possible for him to serve a possible sentence in the Scandinavian country.
Besides Sweden, Denmark and Austria had previously rejected requests to accept him.
The legal obstacle in Sweden was removed on Wednesday when Parliament approved such an agreement with the court that takes effect on July 1.
Kerstin Olsson, a spokeswoman for Sweden's foreign minister, referred to Sweden's previous rejection of the request, but would not say whether the government would alter its stance because of Parliament's decision.
"The government has said no," Olsson said. "No new decision has been taken since the law was approved."
Taylor faces 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity stemming from his alleged backing of Sierra Leonean rebels who terrorized victims by chopping off their arms, legs, ears and lips.
He was transferred into the custody of the Sierra Leone court in late March from exile in Nigeria. While the charges refer only to Sierra Leone, Taylor is accused of fomenting violence in his homeland and elsewhere in West Africa has well.
In London on Wednesday, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf told reporters that holding the trial in west Africa would be risky for her fledgling government.
Taylor still has supporters in Liberia, some of whom won seats in parliament in elections held at the same time as the presidential vote she won last year.
Sweden has agreements on jailing war criminals with other UN courts.
Former Bosnian Serb president Biljana Plavsic is serving an 11-year sentence in a high-security prison west of Stockholm.
Miroslav Deronjic, the top wartime authority in the eastern Bosnian city of Bratunac during the 1992-1995 Bosnian War, was transferred from The Hague to Sweden last year, and is serving a 10-year sentence for ordering the destruction of a Muslim village.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese