A lawyer for former Liberian president Charles Taylor told a UN-backed war crimes court in Sierra Leone today that an indictment against Taylor was invalid because he had enjoyed immunity at the time.
The court indicted Taylor in June, accusing him of supporting rebels during a savage decade-long conflict in Sierra Leone. Under huge international pressure, Taylor stepped down two months later and now lives in exile in Nigeria.
Mr Lawyer Terrence Terry told the court, which began hearing appeals on Friday against some of the indictments it has issued, that as a serving head of state, Taylor enjoyed immunity when the indictment was issued and could not be prosecuted.
"As the then president, Charles Taylor did enjoy immunity and therefore the special court did not have a right to issue an indictment against him at that time," Mr Terry said. He also said the mandate of the court only applied within Sierra Leone itself and it had no jurisdiction in other states.
Prosecution lawyers countered that Taylor was not in a position to challenge the indictment since he was not personally present in court.
Sierra Leone's court was set up to try those responsible for the worst atrocities during the West African country's civil war, which shocked the world with crimes such as amputation of civilians' limbs.
The conflict was declared over in 2002. To date, 13 people have been indicted for war crimes and crimes against humanity and nine are currently in jail.
Rebel leader Foday Sankoh died in hospital while in custody, and two indictees are believed to have been killed while still at large. Taylor lives with his family and closest aides in a posh set of villas in Nigeria's southeastern town of Calabar.
The court and human rights organisations have urged Nigeria to hand over Taylor, a former warlord accused by many of a major role in more than a decade of bloodshed in West Africa.
Last month, Nigerian President Mr Olusegun Obasanjo said he would hand over Taylor if that was the wish of the Liberian people. But Nigeria has no extradition treaty with the court and is no under no legal obligation to do so.
Aides close to Taylor said this week he was contemplating hiring top US lawyer Mr Kenneth Starr, best known as the independent counsel who investigated former US president Bill Clinton.
As well as Taylor, four other defendants are challenging their indictments before the court's appeals chamber, including Sierra Leone's former interior minister Sam Hinga Norman. A ruling is expected next week.