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UN winds down Sierra Leone court | UN winds down Sierra Leone court |
(about 4 hours later) | |
A UN-backed court in Sierra Leone has dealt with its last case after seven years investigating atrocities from the country's decade-long civil war. | |
Thousands were killed, mutilated and raped in the war, which ended in 2002. | |
The court has spent millions of dollars prosecuting suspects from all sides - money that critics say should have been spent on development projects. | |
In the Freetown court's final hearing, judges upheld the convictions of three rebel leaders. | |
The only remaining case is that of Liberia's ex-President Charles Taylor, who is currently on trial in The Hague. | |
He is accused of backing rebels from the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) in an attempt to overthrow Sierra Leone's government. | |
'Heroes' on trial | |
Judges at the Freetown court upheld lengthy jail sentences against RUF leaders Issa Sesay, Maurice Kallon and Augustine Gbao for a catalogue of war crimes and crimes against humanity. | |
Issa Sesay (C) will spend at least 52 years in jail | |
The BBC's correspondent in the region, Caspar Leighton, says the court's closure has left many Sierra Leoneans with a mixed experience of international justice. | |
The court was set up by the UN and Sierra Leone's government in 2002 to punish crimes regardless of who committed them. | |
But all sides in the civil war committed atrocities and our correspondent says most Sierra Leoneans have an idea of who were the heroes and who were the villains. | |
Many of them balked at seeing Sam Hinga Norman, the leader of the Civilian Defence Force militia, in the dock. | |
He had been a hero for the people of Freetown, fighting hard against the RUF rebels - but his forces committed atrocities. | |
Mr Hinga Norman died during his trial. | |
The notorious leader of the RUF rebels, Foday Sankoh, also died while on trial. | The notorious leader of the RUF rebels, Foday Sankoh, also died while on trial. |
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