Charles Taylor to appeal war crimes conviction

Former Liberian president Charles Taylor is appealing against his war crimes conviction and 50-year prison sentence for arming and supporting rebels in Sierra Leone's civil war.

The 64-year-old was found guilty in April last year of aiding and abetting Sierra Leone rebels. He became the first former head of state since World War II to be convicted by an international war crimes court.
Taylor's lawyers have put forward 45 different grounds of appeal against his conviction and sentence.

Prosecutors argued that judges should have found him guilty of ordering and instigating crimes and are asking appeals judges at the Special Court for Sierra Leone to raise his sentence to 80 years.