Famous Liberian rebel turned senator Johnson dies

Prince Yormie Johnson, the Liberian warlord-turned-politician who became infamous for 1990 footage showing him sipping beer while the former president was tortured nearby, has died aged 72 .

As one of the key figures in two civil wars between 1989 and 2003, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission said he should be prosecuted for war crimes, although he was never brought to justice.

But as a senator since 2005, he has had great influence on Liberian politics, supporting the last three elected presidential candidates.

While some celebrated his political role, others saw him as a symbol of the country’s struggles for accountability.

An estimated 250,000 people have died in conflicts, and many survivors of sexual assault and other attacks have been left with permanent scars.

The cause of Johnson’s death in the capital, Monrovia, has not been revealed.

In a message of condolence to his family, President Joseph Boakai – whom Johnson supported during his presidential campaign last year – described him as “a figure who played a central role in the complex historical evolution of the Liberia and contributed to the national discourse through his service in the Senate.” .

In 1990, rebel soldiers from Johnson’s Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia captured President Samuel Doe and were later filmed in front of their leader mutilating him – his ear cut off – before he was killed.

The warlord later expressed his regret for what had happened, but, quoted by the AFP news agency, he justified his role in the war by saying that 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 become a pastor in an evangelical church.

As a politician, he was commended by his constituents in Nimba County for working to improve their lives.

But it also sparked controversy.

In 2021, Johnson was sanctioned by the United States for his alleged involvement in so-called “pay-for-play” financing, in which he allegedly personally benefited from the distribution of government funds to various ministries.

He was also accused of selling votes for personal gain in several elections, drawing criticism from some of his allies.

But Wilfred Bangura, a former official in Johnson’s Movement for Democracy and Reconstruction, said that “politically he had a lot of weight and strength” and that he only changed alliances once he had seen people moving away from him.

While he is certainly revered and mourned by many in his home country – where he was seen as a hero and liberator – elsewhere, people feel he was not forced to pay for crimes committed during the civil war.