From the Court Chamber to the Court of Public Opinion – facilitating local media coverage of the trial of Charles Taylor
The BBC World Service Trust (BBCWST) is implementing a two-pronged project. It is developing, deploying and supporting a team of Liberian and Sierra Leonean reporters to cover the court proceedings from The Hague, as it works with media outlets across Liberia and Sierra Leone to develop and produce their own locally-appropriate programming.
Since the trial’s debut in June 2007, each team has filed daily correspondence-style reports from the court chambers to partner radio stations in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Off the back of these reports, project staff in country have worked to produce a weekly 30-minute radio programme for broadcast throughout the two countries. Team members have also provided sustained on-the-job training and mentoring (backed up by equipment donations) to more than 30 radio stations. Furthermore, these stations, and others in the project’s distribution network, produce their own programming around key transitional justice and development issues arising from the case, primarily in the area of civic education.
Charles Taylor trial weekly summaries (July 20 - 24, 2009)
Former Liberian President Charles Taylor defies intelligence-gathering agencies of the world proving that he had contacts with the Sierra Leonean rebel group RUF beyond 1992. Joseph Cheeseman and Adolphus Williams report from The Hague
Charles Taylor trial weekly summaries (July 13 - 17, 2009)
Charles Taylor's defense case opened this week at the Special Court for Sierra Leone. West African journalists Joseph Cheeseman and Adolphus Williams report from The Hague
Charles Taylor trial weekly summaries (January 19 - 23, 2009)
After a week of direct and cross-examinations by both Prosecution and Defence, Liberian Journalist Hassan Bility has ended his testimonies against Former President Charles Taylor in The Hague.
The Hague: Interview with Courtenay Griffiths, the lead counsel for Charles Taylor
January 23, 2009 - Interview from The Hague with Courtenay Griffiths QC, the Lead Counsel for former president of Liberia Charles Taylor
The Hague: Interview with Sierra Leone Special Court Prosecutor
January 22, 2009 - Interview with Mr. Stephen Rapp, the Prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone.
The Hague: Interview with Courtenay Griffiths, the lead counsel for Charles Taylor
January 21, 2009 - Interview from The Hague with Courtenay Griffiths QC, the Lead Counsel for former president of Liberia Charles Taylor.