The Hague, Netherlands: Former Liberian president Charles Taylor refused to attend his war crimes trial Monday, blocking efforts to try him on charges of arming Sierra Leone's rebels.
Judge Julia Sebutinde adjourned the trial for one week and ordered that Taylor be assigned temporary defence counsel.
When his trial opened June 4, Taylor also refused to leave his cell in a special wing of a Dutch seaside jail, saying he did not believe he would get a fair hearing.
"I cannot participate in a charade that does injustice to the people of Sierra Leone," he wrote in a letter to the judges. Taylor also said that he was firing his attorney, British lawyer Karim Khan. He now wants to defend himself.
There were no defence attorneys for Taylor in court Monday, meaning that prosecution plans to take testimony from their first witness almost certainly will not go ahead.
Taylor has pleaded not guilty to eleven charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity for allegedly arming Sierra Leone rebels and orchestrating a terror campaign during their 10-year civil war that ended in 2002.
His trial is being held in the Netherlands for fear it could spark more unrest if staged in Sierra Leone.
