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Dutch arms trafficker to Liberia given war crimes conviction
Source: The Guardian
Dutch arms trafficker to Liberia given war crimes conviction
Guus Kouwenhoven convicted of selling weapons to ex-president
Charles Taylor during wars that involved mass atrocities
Owen Bowcott Legal affairs correspondent
Saturday 22 April 2017 07.00 BST
An international timber trader who used his business as cover for smuggling weapons into West Africa in defiance of a UN arms embargo has been sentenced to 19 years in prison.
Guus Kouwenhoven, 74, was convicted by the Dutch appeal court of being an accessory to war crimes and arms trafficking for selling weapons to Liberia’s then president Charles Taylor during civil wars that involved mass atrocities, the use of child soldiers and sexual slavery. He had denied the charges.
Kouwenhoven, whose past exploits include deportation from the US in the 1970s for trying to sell stolen Rembrandt paintings, was not in court for the ruling.
The campaign group Global Witness, which investigates corruption and environmental despoliation, said it believed the case was the first war crimes conviction for a businessman profiting from conflict resources.
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
Guus Kouwenhoven convicted of selling weapons to ex-president
Charles Taylor during wars that involved mass atrocities
Owen Bowcott Legal affairs correspondent
Saturday 22 April 2017 07.00 BST
An international timber trader who used his business as cover for smuggling weapons into West Africa in defiance of a UN arms embargo has been sentenced to 19 years in prison.
Guus Kouwenhoven, 74, was convicted by the Dutch appeal court of being an accessory to war crimes and arms trafficking for selling weapons to Liberia’s then president Charles Taylor during civil wars that involved mass atrocities, the use of child soldiers and sexual slavery. He had denied the charges.
Kouwenhoven, whose past exploits include deportation from the US in the 1970s for trying to sell stolen Rembrandt paintings, was not in court for the ruling.
The campaign group Global Witness, which investigates corruption and environmental despoliation, said it believed the case was the first war crimes conviction for a businessman profiting from conflict resources.
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/law/2017/apr/22/dutch-arms-trafficker-to-liberia-guus-kouwenhoven-given-war-crimes-conviction
