"OTC shipped illegal arms into Liberia. The arms entered the country via the port of Buchanan, from where they were brought to Charles Taylor's house, White Flower, in Monrovia. I was there on several occasions when the arms were distributed. OTC imported these arms in exchange for wood at a low cost. (...) The arms transports took place in secret, because the international community had declared an arms embargo in relation to Liberia. The suspect was the person who imported the arms." - (Quotation from a witness statement in the case against Guus K.)
In June 2006, the District Court convicted K. of repeated violation of sanctions legislation, but acquitted him of involvement in war crimes. The Court of Appeal in The Hague then acquitted K. of all charges, but this ruling was overturned by the Supreme Court of the Netherlands.
In December 2010 the re-examination of the case of Guus K. began at the Appeals Court in 's Hertogenbosch. For this retrial extra research was done: witnesses were heard, both in the Netherlands and abroad (including in Liberia, the United States and Hong Kong) and surveys were held in Liberia. Unlike in the first appeal, a consistent and reliable picture emerged proving that Guus K. was guilty of complicity in war crimes committed by armed forces of Charles Taylor in Liberia and the Republic of Guinea between 2000 and 2003 and of supplying arms and ammunition to (the regime of) Charles Taylor in violation of weapon embargoes set by the United Nations. The Court sentenced K. to 19 years imprisonment.
Judgments:
The Hague District Court, 7 June 2006
The Hague Court of Appeal, 10 March 2008
Supreme Court of the Netherlands, 20 April 2010
's-Hertogenbosch Court of Appeal, 21 April 2017
Supreme Court, Advocate General's conclusion, 26 June 2018
Supreme Court of the Netherlands, 26 June 2018
