 Charles Taylor is not happy about conditions in the Hague jail he was moved to last month, his lawyer said on Friday as the former Liberian president appeared in court for the first time since he left Sierra Leone. Defense lawyer Karim Khan told the U.N.-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone, which will try Taylor for war crimes, that his client could not make phone calls as freely as he could in Freetown, lockdown hours were more draconian and he was unhappy about the food in the "rather Eurocentric" facility.
| "Antelope, goddammit! I want antelope! What the hell's this schnitzel stuff?" |
"Mr Taylor should be afforded the same rights and the same regime that are afforded to all other detained persons (in Sierra Leone)," Khan said.
| "And that means he gets antelope!" |
| "Pieter, go get those antlers from the hallway trophy and put them on the schnitzel ... either side yust like so ... yah, yah, just go do it ..." |
Taylor, wearing a grey suit to the procedural hearing, also asked the court through his lawyer to speed visas for his family to visit him in The Hague. Taylor's wife is six months pregnant. The Sierra Leone special court moved Taylor to The Hague because of fears a trial in Freetown could spur unrest in Sierra Leone or Liberia. Proceedings are being held in the premises of the International Criminal Court (ICC). Judge Richard Lussick said he did not want people to have the impression Freetown was "the Riviera of detention" but said he hoped the court's registrar would address Taylor's concerns. |