Former Liberian president, Charles Taylor, in 1992.

Former Liberian president, Charles Taylor, will make history in June 2007 by becoming the first African head of state to stand trial for alleged crimes against humanity.

Working in partnership with the NGO: Search for Common Ground, the BBC World Service Trust will develop, deploy and support a team of six Liberian and Sierra Leonean journalists to cover the court proceedings from The Hague.

Training and mentoring

Prior to travelling to The Hague, the journalists will receive training on courtroom reporting, transitional justice issues, training and mentoring skills.

At any one time, two journalists, one from Sierra Leone and one from Liberia, will spend three months in The Hague where they will gather material for radio programmes from their coverage of the trial proceedings.

All material will be edited and packaged in Sierra Leone and Liberia. They will then be translated into local languages and distributed onto cassette to more than 50 radio stations throughout the two countries.

This central production system will ensure that the audiences in Sierra Leone and Liberia receive an accurate and impartial account of the trial.

Meanwhile, the four journalists who are not at The Hague will provide sustained training and mentoring to local journalists at key radio stations in their own countries.

They will help the stations to devise and produce new local programming, which will provide a further opportunity for public discussion of the court case in The Hague.

A major milestone for African justice

Charles Taylor is charged by the Special Court of Sierra Leone with war crimes, crimes against humanity and other serious violations of international humanitarian law.

He was transferred to The Hague on 20 June 2006 following concerns about regional security.

The Special Court, an independent tribunal established jointly by the United Nations and the Government of Sierra Leone, will use the International Criminal Court facilities during the trial, which is expected to last for 18 months.

The prosecutor for the Special Court of Sierra Leone describes the forthcoming trial of former Liberian leader, Charles Taylor, as a major milestone for the African continent.

In a recent interview with the BBC, Steven Rapp said:

'It’s enormously significant because it involves a leader; a former head of state of an African country; a member of the community of nations being tried for some of the most serious crimes a human being can be charged with

'It’s enormously significant because it involves a leader; a former head of state of an African country; a member of the community of nations being tried for some of the most serious crimes a human being can be charged with.'

The project is funded by the UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Ford Foundation.