Some cases you would think would just be open and shut. How does this go to court for 5 years. There is no way that i can think of to spin this into something funny. I would like to know how he got away with it for so long. And yes I saw the movie. So no emails about me watching the movie to figure it out.

After a five year trial that included grisly testimony from victims who were missing limbs, former colleagues and even fashion supermodel Naomi Campbell, African warlord Charles Taylor was convicted today for his role in the atrocities committed in Sierra Leone including mass murder, sexual slavery and the use of child soldiers.

Taylor was found guilty by the U.N.-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone on all 11 charges for "aiding and abetting" crimes against the people of the African nation committed by militant groups in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

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Peter Andersen, a spokesperson for the Special Court of Sierra Leone where Taylor was tried, told ABC News the conviction was not a full victory for the prosecution, who hoped Taylor would be found guilty of being part of a "joint criminal enterprise" and having a direct hand in the atrocities as "superior leader" of the groups who committed them. Still, Andersen said today's ruling -- the first against an African head of state -- was important to the people of Sierra Leone.

"It's why we're here, trying to redress some of the crimes that were committed in Sierra Leone a decade ago," Andersen said. "I don't know if you can talk about closure, especially with people who have had their limbs hacked off, but at least you can talk about some steps towards reconciliation and at least attempt to put the past behind them and look towards the future."

The original indictment filed against Taylor detailed specific crimes conducted by Taylor's subordinates including "conscripting or enlisting children under the age of 15 years into armed forces