20110208
xinhua

LEIDSCHENDAM, Netherlands (Reuters) - The defence lawyer for former Liberian president Charles Taylor defied the Sierra Leone war crimes court on Tuesday, walking out in protest ahead of closing arguments in the case and calling it a farce.

Taylor, the first African ruler to stand trial for war crimes, is charged with instigating murder, rape, mutilation, sexual slavery and conscription of child soldiers during a brutal civil war in Sierra Leone. He denies the charges.

Defence lawyer Courtenay Griffiths stormed out after judges at the Special Court for Sierra Leone ruled on Monday against allowing the defence to file a final 600-page document because they had missed a January 14 deadline to submit it.

Presiding judge Teresa Doherty warned Griffiths he risked being found in contempt, a charge carrying a fine or prison sentence.

"Our presence in court is incompatible in representing the interests of the accused," Griffiths said, telling reporters outside the court that the situation was "a complete farce".

The shock exit, a reminder of when Taylor refused to attend the start of his trial in June 2007, cast a shadow over the hearing, but prosecutors were allowed to present their closing arguments in a case that has lasted more than three years.

If convicted, Taylor's sentence would be at the discretion of the judges, but the court previously has handed down terms of 15 to 52 years, a court spokesman said.

Prosecutor Brenda Hollis described Taylor as man with "insatiable greed for wealth and power" who had portrayed himself as a victim of an international conspiracy.