THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- The war crimes trial of Liberia’s former president was postponed until early next year to give his lawyers additional time to prepare.
Charles Taylor's trial was to have begun this month in The Hague on charges he was responsible for atrocities committed in neighboring Sierra Leone during its civil war in the 1990s.
The BBC reported the trial date was moved to Jan. 7 after defense attorneys pointed out the large number of documents presented by the prosecution. Presiding Judge Julia Sebutinde said the defense's request of a four-month postponement was "reasonable, given the complexity of the case."
The new defense team was put in place Aug. 1 and said it needed time to go over thousands of pages of documents related to the charges against Taylor.
Taylor, who was Libya's president from August,1997 until August 2003, is charged with 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity. He has pleaded innocent to the charges.
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