Charles Taylor history

He became increasingly politically active, and in 1979, led a demonstration in New York City, New York when then-Liberian President William Tolbert was visiting.

In 1983 Doe accused Taylor of having embezzled nearly $1 million, and the following year Taylor fled to the United States, where he was jailed.

Before he could be extradited, he escaped and subsequently appeared in Libya, where he formed the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL), a militia group that invaded the country in late 1989.

Doe was overthrown and killed in 1990 at the beginning of the conflict by forces loyal to Prince Johnson, one of Taylor’s former commanders.

Taylor became a candidate on the National Patriotic Party (NPP) ticket and won the August 2, 1997 election with 75 percent of the votes.

Governments around the world accused Taylor of supporting rebels in Sierra Leone, and in 2000 the United Nations Security Council imposed sanctions on Liberia.

The country was subsequently gripped again by civil war, and Taylor, accused of gross human rights violations, was indicted by a UN-sponsored war-crimes tribunal (the Special Court for Sierra Leone) in 2003.

The country’s first post-conflict elections, held in 2005, were noteworthy for the election of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to the presidency, as she was the first woman to be elected head of state in Africa.

After having been forced to live in exile in Calabar, Nigeria, Taylor was arrested in March of 2006 and charged with war crimes.

The trial began in June 2007, despite Taylor’s refusal to appear in court for the opening session.

Taylor’s trial began in January 2008.

He was found guilty in April 2012 and sentenced to 50 years in prison.

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