Liberia Holds State Funeral for President Tolbert and Cabinet Members 45 Years After Coup

 

Liberia has held a symbolic state funeral for former President William Tolbert and 13 of his cabinet members, 45 years after they were executed during a 1980 military coup. President Tolbert was murdered in the coup led by 28-year-old Sergeant Samuel Doe. Days later, 13 senior officials were publicly executed on a beach in Monrovia after swift trials by a kangaroo court. Their bodies were never recovered.

Tuesday’s ceremony in the capital was attended by President Joseph Boakai and other dignitaries and was described as a moment of national reflection and reconciliation. Each family was presented with a Liberian flag in honor of their relatives’ public service. A grave was dug but left unsealed in case the remains are ever found. Instead of a 21-gun salute, 21 trumpets were played out of respect for the families' wishes.

The coup ended more than a century of rule by Americo-Liberians, descendants of freed US slaves. It also marked the beginning of decades of instability and conflict that culminated in two brutal civil wars ending in 2003. President Doe himself was captured and killed by rebels in 1990. His remains were also reburied recently under Boakai’s directive.

Family members of the victims expressed pain and grief that still lingers but saw the ceremony as a step toward healing. The reburial is part of a wider effort to confront Liberia’s violent past. A Truth and Reconciliation Commission set up in 2006 recommended prosecutions for war crimes, but no one has been tried in Liberia. Boakai has since signed an executive order to establish a special war crimes court.

Officials called the funerals a tribute to national heroes and a renewed call for unity and justice.

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