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Prince Yormie Johnson, Liberian warlord-turned-politician, who turned notorious for the 1990 footage of him sipping beer whereas the-then president was tortured close by, has died on the age of 72.
As one of many key figures within the two civil wars between 1989 and 2003, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission stated he needs to be prosecuted for struggle crimes, although he was by no means delivered to trial.
But as a senator since 2005, he was extremely influential in Liberian politics, backing the final three profitable presidential candidates.
While some have celebrated his political function, others considered him as a logo of the nation’s struggles with accountability.
“We see his death as a blow to many victims who were awaiting to see the senator to face justice given his role in the civil war,” human rights activist and campaigner for a particular struggle crimes courtroom Adama Dempster advised the BBC.
An estimated 250,000 folks died within the conflicts and plenty of survivors from sexual assault and different assaults have been left completely scarred.
The reason behind Johnson’s dying within the capital, Monrovia, has not been disclosed.
In a condolence message to his household, President Joseph Boakai – who Johnson supported in his presidential marketing campaign final 12 months – described him as “a figure who played a pivotal role in Liberia’s complex historical evolution and contributed to national discourse through his service in the Senate”.
Back in 1990, insurgent troopers from Johnson’s Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia captured President Samuel Doe and have been then, in entrance of their chief, filmed mutilating him – his ear was sliced off – earlier than he was killed.
The warlord later expressed remorse for what had occurred, however, as quoted by the AFP information company, justified his function within the struggle, saying he was defending “my country, my people, who were led to the slaughterhouse as if they were chickens and goats, by the Doe regime”.
He also said he had changed and had become a pastor in an evangelical church.
As a politician he was praised by his constituents in Nimba county for working to improve their lives.
But he also courted controversy.
In 2021 Johnson was sanctioned by the US for alleged involvement in so-called pay-for-play funding, where he would reportedly personally benefit from the distribution of government funding to various ministries.
He was also accused of selling votes for personal gain in several elections, leading to criticism from some of his allies.
But Wilfred Bangura, a former leading official in Johnson’s Movement for Democracy and Reconstruction, said “politically he was very weighty and strong” and that he solely modified alliances as soon as he noticed folks transferring away from him.
While actually revered and being mourned by many in his residence county – the place he was seen as a hero and liberator – elsewhere folks really feel he was not made to pay for the crimes dedicated throughout the civil struggle.
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