Liberian rebel commander shouts out at start of Swiss trial for cannibalism, rape

FILE PHOTO: Liberian rebels disarm at a checkpoint outside the city before proceeding to the Free Port in Monrovia, file. REUTERS/Juda Ngwenya REUTERS/File/File Photo

BELLINZONA, Switzerland (Reuters) - A former rebel commander accused of involvement in killing civilians, rape and eating pieces of a school teacher's heart during Liberia's civil war decried his long pre-trial detention in an outburst as proceedings began in Switzerland on Thursday.

The trial is just one of a handful of cases brought to international courts in connection with the West African country's 1989-2003 civil war, which became a byword for savagery and killed hundreds of thousands of people.