( CNN ) -- He stood before judges Wednesday not as the first former head of state convicted of war crimes since World War II but as a leader convinced he was wronged by corruption and a hypocritical hand of justice . In his last stand at a special court for Sierra Leone , his last chance to address the world before he is locked behind bars , former Liberian President Charles Taylor made a plea for why he should be spared the harshest sentence for his conviction on aiding and abetting war crimes . He said he was saddened by last month 's guilty verdict , in which the court said he had assisted Revolutionary United Front rebels who fueled Sierra Leone 's long and bloody civil war that ultimately left 50,000 dead or missing . Taylor insisted his intent was far from what had been portrayed by prosecutors and that he , himself , was a victim . `` What I did to bring peace to Sierra Leone was done with honor , '' said Taylor , standing before the tribunal in The Hague , Netherlands , dressed immaculately in suit and tie as he has been all throughout his trial . He delivered a 30-minute defense of his actions in a calm voice , his demeanor the opposite of the combative Ratko Mladic , the Bosnian Serb commander whose war crimes trial opened Wednesday in another special tribunal , one for the former Yugoslavia , in The Hague . Not once , however , did he express remorse . `` I pushed the peace process hard , contrary to how I have been portrayed in this court , '' Taylor said . He blamed money for an unfair trial . `` Money played a corrupting , influential , significant and dominant role in this trial , '' he said . `` Money , in this case , prejudiced my rights and interests in a irrevocable way . '' He said prosecutors received millions of dollars from the United States government and witnesses were paid off . He compared the charges against him to what he called U.S. abuses but said President George W. Bush would never have to stand trial . `` President George W. Bush ordered torture and admitted to doing so , '' Taylor said . `` Torture is a crime against humanity . The United States has refused to prosecute him . Is he above the law ? Where is the fairness ? '' He warned that other African leaders could receive similar unjust fates . `` I never stood a chance , '' Taylor said . `` Only time will tell how many other African heads of state will be destroyed . '' Last month 's landmark ruling by the international tribunal against Taylor was the first war crimes conviction of a former head of state by an international court since the Nuremberg trials after World War II that convicted Adm. Karl Doenitz , who became president of Germany briefly after Adolf Hitler 's suicide . Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic was tried by an international tribunal , but he died before a judgment was issued . Taylor , 64 , was found guilty of all 11 counts of aiding and abetting rebel forces in Sierra Leone in a campaign of terror that involved murder , rape , sexual slavery , conscripting children younger than 15 and mining diamonds to pay for guns . The prosecutors failed , however , to prove that Taylor assumed direct command over the rebels who committed the atrocities . He has been a pivotal figure in Liberian politics for decades and was forced out of office under international pressure in 2003 . He fled to Nigeria , where border guards arrested him three years later as he was attempting to cross into Chad . The United Nations and the Sierra Leone government jointly set up the special tribunal to try those who played the biggest role in the atrocities . The court was moved to Netherlands from Sierra Leone , where emotions about the civil war still run high . In closing , Taylor reminded the court that he was a father and a grandfather , and a man of genuine actions . At 64 , he is not young anymore , he said . He is a man who favors peace and reconciliation , a man , he said , who is the opposite of the monster that the court said he really was . `` I am no threat to society , '' Taylor said . Few , however , are likely to agree . The judges ' guilty verdict last month was unanimous and prosecutors have said Taylor deserves a stiff prison sentence to reflect the gravity of the crimes . There is no death penalty in international criminal law . Brenda Hollis , chief prosecutor for the Special Court for Sierra Leone , has said an 80-year sentence would be appropriate . `` But for Charles Taylor 's criminal conduct , thousands of people would not have had limbs amputated , would not have been raped , would not have been killed , '' Hollis said in a statement released earlier . `` The recommended sentence provides fair and adequate response to the outrage these crimes caused in victims , their families and relatives . '' Taylor will find out his fate on May 30 when the special tribunal delivers its sentence .
NEW : Taylor delivers a 30-minute defense of his actions in Sierra Leone . NEW : He says his trial was corrupted by money . He was convicted of war crimes for his role in aiding rebels in Sierra Leone 's bloody war . Score: 6