Prince Johnson, a former Liberian warlord and prominent figure during the country’s devastating civil wars from 1989 to 2003, has passed away at the age of 72. His death was confirmed on Thursday by officials from his political party and the Senate.
Johnson gained global infamy in 1990 when a video surfaced showing him drinking beer while his fighters tortured and executed then-President Samuel Doe.
This horrific event became one of the defining moments of Liberia’s brutal civil wars, which resulted in the deaths of around 250,000 people and left the country’s economy in ruins.
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Siaffa Jallah, Deputy Director of Press at the Senate, described Johnson as the “longest-serving senator.”
Wilfred Bangura, a senior member of Johnson’s Movement for Democracy and Reconstruction party, confirmed his death to AFP, stating, “Yes, we lost him this morning. He passed away at Hope for Women (health centre).”
Originally from Nimba County in northern Liberia, Johnson later reinvented himself as an evangelical preacher and garnered significant local support. Despite his wartime notoriety, he remained a key political figure, strongly opposing the establishment of a war crimes tribunal for the atrocities committed during the conflict.
Prince Johnson’s legacy is deeply divisive, symbolizing both his controversial role in Liberia’s history and his enduring influence in the nation’s political landscape.
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