(CNN) -- The first former head of state to be convicted of war crimes since World War II was sentenced to 50 years in prison Wednesday by an international court in The Hague, Netherlands.



The court convicted Charles Taylor last month of aiding rebels in neighboring Sierra Leone in a campaign of terror, involving murder, rape, sexual slavery and the conscription children younger than 15.



The prosecution had asked the Special Court for Sierra Leone for a sentence of 80 years for Taylor, the president of Liberia from 1997 to 2003, but the judges found the recommendation "excessive" citing the "limited scope" of the conviction in some points.

SOURCE:http://saharareporters.com/news-page/charles-taylor-sentenced-50-years-war-crimes-cnn
READ MORE: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/05/30/world/africa/netherlands-taylor-sentencing/index.html