Latest from Charles Taylor blog: “In a dramatic opening to the Charles Taylor trial today, the man long-awaited to confront criminal charges brought against him in the Hague elected not to appear. And his lawyer, Karim Khan, interrupted the opening statement of the Special Court for Sierra Leone’s Chief Prosecutor, Stephen Rapp, by walking out of the courtroom in defiance of a court order to continue representing Taylor for the day — in an unexpected move, Taylor sacked Khan and asked to represent himself.”