Special Court for Sierra Leone

The Special Court for Sierra Leone transferred its detention center to the Sierra Leone National Prison Service this week.  The handover of the detention center in Freetown is the latest step in the completion of the mandate of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, which delivered its last judgment inside the country in October.  Last month, the eight prisoners convicted and held by the SCSL were transferred to Rwanda to serve their sentences. The remaining trial, involving former Liberian president Charles Taylor, continues at The Hague, where it was moved for security reasons.  That trial is taking place in the same building as the International Criminal Court. 

The Special Court for Sierra Leone is an independent tribunal established jointly by the Sierra Leonean Government and the UN in 2002. It is mandated to try those who bear the greatest responsibility for atrocities committed in Sierra Leone after 30 November 1996.

(mew)