| NEWS ARTICLE |
| Dutch 'blood timber' trader gets eight years for supplying arms to Liberia |
| BY: Stephanie Van Den Berg Wed Jun 7, 2006 |
THE HAGUE (AFP) - A Dutch court sentenced former timber trader
Guus Kouwenhoven to eight years' prison for breaking UN
sanctions against Liberia by supplying arms to the regime of
Charles Taylor, but it acquitted him of more serious war crimes
charges.
The court ruled that Kouwenhoven, 63, as the president of the
Oriental Timber Corporation (OTC), supplied arms such as AK-47
assault rifles and anti-tank weapons to Taylor between 2001 and
2003 when there was a United Nations arms embargo against
Liberia.
"By breaking (the UN sanctions) on a large scale the accused has
contributed in a substantial manner to the violation of the
international peace and the destabilization of the region in which
Liberia lies," presiding judge Roel van Rossum said.
The court added that it could not however be proven that the
businessman was guilty of war crimes because there was not
enough evidence to link him directly to atrocities.
"The court did not find enough convincing evidence for the actual
involvement of the accused or his knowledge of the war crimes
charged," van Rossum said.
The prosecution had demanded a 20-year prison sentence and a
fine of 450,000 euros (570,000 dollars).
Spokeswoman Digna van Boetzelaer said the prosecution would
most likely appeal the verdict but added that the crux of the their
case, that Kouwenhoven had supplied guns to Liberia, was upheld
by the court.
Kouwenhoven's lawyer Inez Weski also indicated that she would
probably launch an appeal.
The Dutch court ruled that Kouwenhoven, through his logging
companies OTC and RTC, smuggled guns into Liberia in exchange
for lucrative timber concessions. The so-called "blood timber" trade
fueled the conflicts raging in Liberia and neighbouring countries.
The prosecution argued that these weapons were subsequently
used by Taylor's troops to commit atrocities during the 14-year civil
war. However, the court found that it could not be proven that the
guns were used to commit war crimes.
Taylor fled Liberia in 2003 after he stepped down to give a
UN-brokered peace process a chance. He is currently in the
custody of the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone, where he
faces charges stemming from atrocities committed there.
In April, Taylor pleaded not guilty to charges of sponsoring and
aiding rebel groups who perpetrated murder, sexual slavery,
mutilation and conscription of child soldiers in Sierra Leone.
The court ruled Wednesday that Kouwenhoven had close financial
and personal ties to Taylor.
"The interests of Charles Taylor as the president of Liberia were
closely entwined with the financial interests of Kouwenhoven
because of his investments in Liberia," the judges said.
They ruled he placed a "crucial role" in the bringing in of arms
through the Liberian port of Buchanan controlled by OTC and "was
guided purely by financial interest."
Liberian human rights groups had a mixed reactions to the verdict.
"Eight years imprisonment for such a criminal is not fair for
Liberians," said Jackson Spear, head of Liberia's Foundation for
International Dignity (FIND).
However, Fedrick Baye of a Liberian non-governmental
organisation, the Patriotic Consciousness Association, said the
court's decision on the sanctions offence was fair.
"If the judges at the Hague have decided on only eight years for
Guus, it means they believe that he did not commit any war crime ...
Then the verdict is fair to me, because it is an open secret in
Liberia that Guus indeed violated the UN sanctions on arms."