Sunday Times 2
War crime convict Charles Taylor’s wife bemoans his humiliation in British jail
The wife of an African warlord who has been moved to a UK prison claimed his incarceration among ‘common British prisoners’ was ‘humiliating’.
Former Liberian president Charles Taylor has begun serving a 50-year sentence at HMP Frankland on the outskirts of Durham city for plotting some of the most heinous war crimes in history.
His wife, Victoria Addison Taylor – who had a child with him while he was imprisoned elsewhere – revealed her husband’s whereabouts and spoke of the ‘humiliation’ that the former head of state was being housed with murderers, terrorists and paedophiles.
Speaking to a French journalist, she said: ‘He is being incarcerated in Frankland Prison.
Convicted: The 65-year-old former Liberian president lost his appeal in September over a catalogue of crimes committed by the Sierra Leonean rebels he aided and abetted during the country's bloody civil war (Reuters)
‘They took him to this prison where high (risk) criminals, terrorists and other common British criminals are kept and he is being classified as a high risk prisoner.
‘He is going through humiliation and you cannot treat a former head of state that way.’
Taylor was moved from the Hague, where he had been since the start of his trial in 2007, to the high security prison, which houses 800 of the most dangerous offenders in the prison system.
One source said that Taylor was ‘keeping his head down’ with many other prisoners not knowing who he was, while an expert on the prison system said Taylor was unlikely to be targeted and would be regarded as a celebrity.
The 65-year-old former president lost his appeal in September over a catalogue of gruesome crimes committed by the Sierra Leonean rebels he aided and abetted during the country’s bloody civil war.
The conflict claimed 120,000 lives and featured mutilations, drugged child soldiers and sex slaves.
In 2006, the British government agreed to jail Taylor in the United Kingdom in the event he was convicted by the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) at his trial.
The verdict in 2012 ruled that he was guilty of all 11 counts of aiding and abetting war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Judges ruled that during his presidency from 1997 to 2003 and in exchange for ‘blood diamonds’ mined by slave labour, Taylor provided the rebels with arms and ammunition.
Presiding Judge Richard Lussick said in his sentencing statement: ‘The accused has been found responsible for aiding and abetting as well as planning some of the most heinous and brutal crimes recorded in human history.’
Taylor’s family have alleged he is being ill-treated at Frankland Prison, but the claims have been dismissed as ‘nonsense’ by the Ministry of Justice.
Former prisoner-turned newspaper prison correspondent Eric Allison said: ‘HMP Frankland is probably about the most security-conscious prison in the country.
‘He will be in a single cell and will have a fair bit of association with other prisoners.
‘Whereas in a normal prison Category A prisoners are kept in a separate unit, at Frankland they are kept with the main population.
‘He won’t be on a special wing, unless he misbehaves and then he will be down in segregation.
‘He will be on what they call normal location and will wear yellow patches to signify he is an escape risk, or category A.
‘Apart from that he will be given the opportunity to work in a workshop if he wants to.’
Mr Allison added: ‘I don’t think he will be a target for anybody – he’s not a sex offender. I think he will be treated as a bit of a celebrity.’
A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice said: ‘We don’t comment on individual prisoners.’
© Daily Mail, London