The International Criminal court (ICC) sitting at Leidschendam, near The Hague, The Netherlands, has sentenced former Liberian leader Charles Taylor to 50 years in prison  following his landmark conviction for supporting rebels in Sierra Leone in return for blood diamonds.

According to The Wall Street Journal,

“The Special Court for Sierra Leone found Mr. Taylor guilty last month on 11 charges of aiding and abetting the rebels who went on a bloody rampage—murdering and mutilating thousands—during the decadelong civil war that ended in 2002 with more than 50,000 dead.

Presiding Judge Richard Lussick says the crimes Mr. Taylor was convicted of were of the “utmost gravity in terms of scale and brutality.”The 64-year-old warlord-turned-president is the first former head of state convicted by an international war crimes court since World War II.”