Prince Johnson, a former Liberian warlord-turned-senator who was accused of orchestrating massacres, torture, and rapes, during the country’s brutal civil wars, died on Thursday at 72.
His death was confirmed by family spokesperson Wilfred Bangura, who said the late senator had suffered from high blood pressure.
Johnson became a notorious figure after presiding over the torture and killing of a former president, caught on video.
In the infamous video from the 1990s, Johnson was seen celebrating with cans of beer and looking on as his men sliced off former President Samuel Doe’s ear with a knife and then killed him.
Liberia’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission recommended him for prosecution, but he never faced trial. Instead, he became a political kingmaker and was serving as a senator at the time of his death.
More than 200,000 people were killed and thousands more mutilated and raped in brutal civil wars that tore apart Liberia between 1989 and 2003. Over a million were displaced.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission listed Johnson among eight leaders of warring factions, saying his group had committed massacres, torture and rapes. It also named him first on its list of “most notorious perpetrators”.
While Johnson avoided prosecution, he later described regretting Doe’s murder and seeking reconciliation with his family.
More recently, Johnson voted in favour of setting up a long-awaited war crimes court earlier this year. Once operational, the court will be backed by international institutions including the United Nations.
The aim is to deliver long overdue justice to victims of the civil wars, but critics have said it risks reopening old wounds.
Johnson remained in politics after the wars ended and was elected as a senator in his Nimba county stronghold in 2006. He went on to play a role as kingmaker in various presidential elections.
He threw his support behind former president Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf in 2011, then endorsed George Weah in the run-off against Sirleaf’s ruling party successor Joseph Boakai in 2017.
However, he switched his support to Boakai in the 2023 election in which Boakai defeated Weah in a run-off.
Boakai praised Johnson’s contributions to the national discourse.
“While we may not have always agreed on the path our nation pursued, we recognize the impact of his work and his dedication to representing the people of Nimba County,” he said in a statement after Johnson’s death.
(With inputs from Reuters)
