President killed in Liberian coup to be reburied in own grave

LIBERIA: Liberia’s former President William Tolbert is set to receive a symbolic reburial on Tuesday, 45 years after he was murdered during a coup and his body believed to be dumped in a mass grave.

Ten days after the president’s killing, following trials by a kangaroo court, 13 of his cabinet were stripped, tied to stakes and then executed by a firing squad on a beach next to an army barracks in the capital, Monrovia.

None of the 14 corpses has been found but each man is due to get a state funeral at a ceremony attended by President Joseph Boakai and other dignitaries.

The event is seen as an act of reconciliation and part of a process of the country coming to terms with its violent recent past.