Good news as Charles Taylor found guilty

Good news for international justice with the first conviction by an international court of a former head of state since the Nuremburg trials:

International judges have found former Liberian leader Charles Taylor guilty of aiding and abetting war crimes during the Sierra Leone civil war.

Taylor, 64, has been on trial in The Hague at the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone for almost five years…

Taylor was convicted on 11 counts including terror, murder and rape. (BBC)

His original indictment set an important precedent as he was a current head of state at the time. His conviction now sets another welcome one – and is also a reminder that in some circumstances international military intervention to hasten the departure of a dictator can be both successful and right.