At a July 2011 preliminary hearing, Kargbo entered a guilty plea; the other four defendants pleaded not guilty. The court's working language was English. No person, no matter how powerful, is above the law. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. [83] In June 2012, Eric Senessie was tried and convicted of eight counts of contempt of court. Sierra Leone (hereinafter "the Special Court") shall function in accordance with the provisions of the present Statute. Augustine Gbao was found guilty of 14 of the 18 charges. The Special Court consisted of three institutions: the Registry, the Office of the Prosecutor, and the Chambers (for trials and appeals). [67], These were the first judgments from the SCSL, as well as the first time ever that an international court ruled on charges related to child soldiers or forced marriage, and the first time an international court delivered a guilty verdict for the military conscription of children. Convictions were entered on charges including murder, enlistment of child soldiers, amputation, sexual slavery and forced marriage. [74], The prosecution rested its case on 27 February 2009,[75] and the defense began their case on 13 July and rested on 12 November 2010. He was then immediately turned over to the SCSL. [8], The SCSL had the jurisdiction to try any persons who committed crimes against humanity against civilians that included: murder; extermination; enslavement; deportation; imprisonment; torture; rape, sexual slavery, forced prostitution or any other form of sexual violence; persecution on the basis of politics, race, ethnicity or religion; and other "inhumane acts." Sierra Leone’s five-year MCC threshold programme ends but what success? [1], The current prosecutor, Brenda Hollis, previously the principal trial attorney in the Charles Taylor case, was appointed by the UNSG and took up her office in February 2010. The Office of the Prosecutor has a duty under Articles 1 and 14 of the RSCSL Statute to investigate all allegations of contempt, and to pursue charges when warranted. [96], Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC). Article 36, paragraph 1, of the Statute provides that the jurisdiction of the Court comprises all cases which the parties refer to it. These included the CDF's efforts to restore Sierra Leone's democratically elected government which, the Trial Chamber noted, "contributed immensely to re-establishing the rule of law in this Country where criminality, anarchy and lawlessness (...) had become the order of the day". Taylor's trial started on 4 June 2007,[73] with the first witness appearing 7 January 2008. All sentences should be carried out within Sierra Leone, unless there was no capacity to deal with the accused, at which point any states pursuant to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda or the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia who have acceded a willingness to host the accused for the tenure of their sentence can hold the prisoner. The list below details the counts against each individual indicted in the Court and his or her current status. Allieu Kondewa, Moinina Fofana, and former Interior Minister Samuel Hinga Norman. RSCSL Prosecutor James Johnson also said that: “Interference with witnesses is a threat to the administration of justice and my office will pursue any unlawful interference with witnesses, as mandated by the RSCSL Statute and the Rules of Procedure and Evidence.”. The SCSL, as with all other tribunals established by the United Nations, does not have the power to impose the death penalty. 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