Story Highlights • Taylor boycotts trial saying he does not think he will get fair hearing
• Prosecutors allege Taylor orchestrated rebels in return for illegal diamonds
• Taylor faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment if convicted
• Taylor's daughter Charen dropped out of college to help organize his defense
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THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) -- Former Liberian President Charles Taylor, accused of orchestrating unspeakable atrocities during neighboring Sierra Leone's bloody civil war, said Monday he did not believe he would receive a fair trial and boycotted its opening.
In a letter to the court read by his defense attorney, Taylor said he was prevented from seeing his preferred lawyer and that his one court-appointed attorney was outgunned by the extensive prosecution team.
"It is with great regret that I must decline to attend any further proceedings in this case," Taylor said in the statement read to the court by his lawyer, Karim Khan.
"At one time I had confidence in this court's ability to dispense justice. Over time, it has become clear that confidence has been misplaced," Taylor's statement said.
Chief Prosecutor Stephen Rapp disputed Taylor's assertion that he lacked an adequate defense, noting that Taylor had been assigned a lawyer, a special investigator and funds. "Everything that can be done is being done," Rapp told the court.
Taylor, 59, who has pleaded not guilty to 11 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment if convicted. His trial is expected to last 18 months.
Prosecutors allege that, in return for diamonds illegally mined in Sierra Leone, Taylor armed, funded and controlled rebels who murdered, raped and mutilated civilians before looting and torching their villages in a campaign of terror aimed at destabilizing the government in Freetown.
Taylor, a former warlord who was elected Liberia's president in 1997, was indicted in 2003. He agreed to give up power and go into exile, but was taken into custody in March 2006 as he tried to cross the border from Nigeria to Cameroon.
He was transferred to The Hague a year ago amid fears his trial in Sierra Leone could trigger fresh violence in the capital, Freetown.
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Former Liberian president Charles Taylor, who is facing charges of war crimes for his role in the Sierra Leone Civil War, has decided to boycott the proceedings at The Hague under the auspices of the Special Court for Sierra Leone. He faces 11 charges of war crimes, all of which he denies.

Taylor claims that his trial will not be fair as he only has one defense lawyer. "He has not thumbed his nose at the court," said Karim Khan, his counsel, before producing the letter in which Taylor said he would "not receive a fair trial at the Special Court at this time."

Chief Prosecutor Stephen Rapp disagrees with Taylor's assessment. Taylor, he says, has been assigned a lawyer, a special investigator and funds. "Everything that can be done is being done," Rapp told the Special Court.