Man Accused of Trying to Kill Liberian Leader Doe Executed
The man accused of attempting to assassinate Liberian leader Gen. Samuel K. Doe was executed on a beach by a firing squad today.
Journalists witnessed the public execution of Col. Moses Flanzamaton, the deputy commander of the presidential guard, at a local military camp.
Doe announced the death penalty for Flanzamaton after a military hearing. At the same time, Doe freed four leading politicians whom the colonel had implicated in a public confession.
The four freed men were Gabriel Baccus Matthews of the United People’s Party, Counselor Tuan Wreh and Harry A. Greaves of the Liberian Action Party and Dr. Edward B. Kesselly of the Unity Party.
Doe said the joint security forces found insufficient evidence to “confirm the implication of these four individuals and others in the Flanzamaton plot.”
According to Doe, the attempt on his life took place April 1 when Flanzamaton opened fire on a jeep driven by Doe. The shooting occurred at the gates of Doe’s mansion, the Liberian State House, where Flanzamaton was the deputy commander of the guard battalion.
Doe said the colonel had been about to be sent to prison for debts to a local public corporation and attempted the assassination in an effort to avoid jail.
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