THE UNITED KINGDOM LIBERIAN AND SWISS NGOS JOIN FORCES AGAINST EX-FIRST LADY Current status Agnes Reeves Taylor Agnes Reeves Taylor is accused of having ordered and carried out torture in Gbarnga, the headquarters of Charles Taylor’s National Patriotic Front; and in Gborplay, between 23 December 1989 and 1 January 1991, during the first Liberian civil war. Context Ongoing proceedings for war crimes allegedly committed during the first Liberian civil war (1989–1996). The Agnes Reeves Taylor case is the fourth arrest by a Western country of a suspect of war crimes allegedly committed during the first Liberian civil war. Liberia’s former president, Charles Taylor, was sentenced on 30 May 2012 by the Special Court for Sierra Leone to 50 years’ imprisonment (confirmed on appeal on 26 September 2013), for crimes he committed during the Sierra Leone civil war in the 1990s. However, he was not prosecuted for the crimes committed in Liberia by his troops, the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPLF). Suspect Ex-wife of former Liberian president Charles Taylor Country of residence of suspect Trial pending Facts Procedure On 1 June 2017, Agnes Reeves Taylor was arrested at her residence in East London by the Metropolitan Police, based on information provided by the NGOs Civitas Maxima and its Liberian sister organization, the Global Justice and Research Project (GJRP). On 2 June 2017, she was charged with torture and infliction of severe pain or suffering for her alleged involvement with Charles Taylor’s rebel group, the NPFL, during the first Liberian civil war. She was charged with two counts of torture committed in Gbarnga, in central Liberia, and one count of torture committed in Gborplay, in the northeast. She allegedly allowed the rape of seven women at the headquarters of Charles Taylor’s rebels. United Kingdom On 11 August 2017, Westminster Magistrates’ Court rejected her request for provisional release on bail. Charges On 19 October 2018, she entered a plea of not guilty to eight charges. Torture, conspiracy to commit torture, and intentionally inflicting severe pain or suffering in the performance of official duties Read more about the case Development in 2018 Her trial was scheduled to start in October 2018, but was postponed until January 2019. 74