AUTHORITIES ISSUE Developments in OTHER PENDING FIRST INDICTMENT 2018 CASES • Tzipi Livni: investigation ongoing ON THE 1989 The investigation is still ongoing but should be completed by early 2019. LIBERIAN WAR Martina Johnson Current status Context The Martina Johnson case constitutes the first arrest and indictment for war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed during the first Liberian civil war (1989–1996). Liberia’s former president, Charles Taylor, was sentenced on 30 May 2012 to 50 years in prison (confirmed on appeal on 10 December 2013) for the crimes he committed during the Sierra Leone civil war in the 1990s. However, he was not prosecuted for the crimes committed in Liberia by his troops, the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPLF). Under house arrest, indicted Facts Martina Johnson was allegedly actively involved in Operation Octopus launched by Charles Taylor and his NPFL troops in October 1992. This offensive against the government and the peacekeeping forces was aimed at taking over the capital Monrovia and resulted in the deaths of hundreds of civilians, many of whom were targeted for ethnic reasons. Procedure A former frontline commander of the NPFL, Liberian Martina Johnson was allegedly Charles Taylor’s chief of artillery during Operation Octopus in October 1992. In 2012, three Liberian victims, assisted by the NGOs Civitas Maxima and its Liberian sister organization the Global Justice and Research Project (GJRP), filed a complaint in Belgium against Martina Johnson for her alleged direct participation in mutilations and mass killings during Operation Octopus in October 1992. Country of residence of suspect Martina Johnson was arrested on 17 September 2014 in Gent, Belgium, based on documentation collected by the two NGOs. Suspect Belgium Charges Direct involvement in alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity, including mutilation and mass killings She was released on 4 May 2015 and placed under judicial supervision. Read more about the case 19