The defence lawyer for former Liberian President Charles Taylor walked out of the Special Court for Sierra Leone on Tuesday in protest at a decision by judges preventing him from filing a final summary of his evidence. Taylor decided not to return to court after the coffee break, while prosecutors continue their closing arguments. 

Judges ruled on Monday against permitting the filing of the defence's final document because defence lawyers had missed a final deadline on 14 January to submit the final brief. British defence lawyer Courtenay Griffiths said the decision impacted Taylor's rights to a fair trial.

He said he had no other choice than walking out of court. He left the former Liberian President on his own in the dock.

The incident followed a heated debate with the judges. They had refused on Monday to receive a comprehensive document of the defense in which lawyers argue that Taylor is innocent. This is one of the main parts of the procedure, but the judges ruled that Griffiths handed it in too late. 

After Griffiths had left the courtroom, the presiding judge, Teresa Doherty (Northern Ireland), gave the 
the floor to Chief Prosecutor Brenda Hollis to present her closing arguments.

Closing arguments
Charles Taylor's war crimes trial in the Dutch city of Leidschendam has entered its final phase after three years of testimony on the Liberian former president's alleged warmongering in Sierra Leone. Brenda Hollis insists that Taylor armed rebels of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) who staged one of the most brutal conflicts in modern times, in exchange for illegally mined diamonds.

"Charles Taylor created, armed, supported and controlled the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) in a ten-year campaign of terror" that claimed some 120,000 lives until 2001, states the prosecution's final trial brief.

She said Taylor is guilty of all 11 counts against him.

Limbs severed
Thousands of civilians had limbs severed in one of history's bloodiest civil wars, which Taylor started "by sending ammunition, weapons and manpower to the RUF and its allies", according to the prosecution.

"The crimes suffered by the people of Sierra Leone would not have occurred but for Taylor's supervision and support for the RUF."

Taylor, 62, received "mayonnaise jars" of so-called blood diamonds from the RUF, a handful of which he presented to supermodel Naomi Campbell at a charity dinner in South Africa in 1997, according to testimony before the court.

"Many millions of dollars worth of ... diamonds, most mined by civilians under conditions amounting to slavery, were delivered to Taylor," states the prosecution brief.

Not guilty
Lawyers for Taylor, who has pleaded not guilty to 11 counts of war crimes, crimes against humanity and other violations of humanitarian law, were scheduled to present their closing arguments on Wednesday, followed by two hours of rebuttal for each side on Friday.

Taylor dismisses the charges as "lies", denies having received any diamonds, and rejects testimony that he had eaten human flesh. 

The judges will then retire to consider their judgment but the court's verdict is not expected before the middle of the year.

The trial started in earnest in January 2008 in The Hague for fear that Taylor's presence in Sierra Leone, where the tribunal is based, could destabilise the region.

The court has heard evidence from 94 prosecution witnesses and 21 for the defence, and has admitted 1,093 exhibits. The trial transcript is more than 49,000 pages long.

It is the second time that the leadership of the defense of Taylor runs away from the courtroom. In 2007, at the opening of the trial Taylor fired his team led by Karim Khan, saying he did not have have enough resources to prepare his defense.