Following a closed hearing held on last month, the judges of a Belgian court of appeal issued a decision on March 12 officially closing the investigation phase of the case against Martina Johnson, a Liberian war crimes suspect, and sending her case to trial.
 
Johnson, allegedly a former commander of Charles Taylor’s National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) during the first Liberian civil war (1989-1996), has been resident in Belgium since 2003.

In 2012, following a complaint filed by several victims, an investigation was launched.

Arrested in September 2014 on suspicion of war crimes and crimes against humanity, Johnson is accused by Belgian prosecutors of participating directly in persecution and mass killings committed in late 1992 during Operation Octopus, an infamous military offensive waged on Liberia’s capital, Monrovia.

The decision marks a key milestone in victims’ enduring quest for justice. This long-awaited decision comes 14 years after the opening of the investigation, and 34 years after Operation Octopus. 

The decision follows a first hearing held before the Ghent Court of First Instance, in which the judge ruled that the investigation conducted by the judicial authorities, ongoing since 2012, had revealed sufficient evidence against Johnson to justify her possible referral to the court.

The date of trial is scheduled to be named soon.