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Rt/Gen. Julu explains why he occupied Mansion |
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Written by Moses Wenyou
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Thursday, 18 September 2008 |
Retired General Charles Julu says he took over the Executive Mansion in 1994 to prevent then rebel leader Charles Taylor from taking power.
General Julu was the chief of staff of the Armed Forces of Liberia during the latter days of the Samuel Kanyon Doe government.
He said he took over the Mansion to occupy the vacuum created by the expiration of the mandate of the Interim Government of National Unity.
General Julu said he arrived in the country on the eve of the failed takeover and was lodged in a hotel before he occupied the president’s office.
He testified Thursday at the TRC ongoing Thematic in Monrovia.
On September 15, 1994, Gen. Julu under the banner of the New Horizon for New Direction announced that he had taken over from the Executive Mansion.
ECOMOG peacekeeping troops backed by military gun ships and artilleries ejected him from the mansion.
Few days later, Julu was arrested by angry civilians around the US Embassy in Mamba Point, apparently attempting to escape from the country.
He was tried for sedition and sentenced to life imprisonment but was later released during the infamous April 6, 1996 armed conflict in Monrovia.
Meanwhile, the truth commission would on Friday hold Thematic Hearing for Children in Zwedru, Grand Gedeh County.
The hearing would be held under theme children And the Conflict in Liberia: what does the Future Hold.
It is aimed at understanding the impact of the conflict and transitional justice mechanisms on the development of Liberian children and their future.
The TRC says it has already conducted two of three regional public hearings for children in Zwedru and Tubmanburg, Bomi County.
A TRC said several children who were direct victims of the conflict would testify followed by a panel discussion with commissioners of the TRC.
The TRC said in collecting children’s experiences of the war, special measures were used to ensure the protection of children throughout the process.
These included statement taking, public hearings in camera and public debates between children and the commissioners.
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