A criminal court in Switzerland has found Alan White, an American war crimes investigator with a long history of involvement in Liberia’s politics, guilty of defaming two justice activists. The Criminal Division of the Jura-Bernois-Seeland regional court of Swiss Canton of Berne agreed with an August 2024 ruling by the Public Prosecutor’s Office that White, an ex-investigator for Sierra Leone’s Special Court, had defamed the reputations of Alain Werner, a Swiss lawyer, and Hassan Bility, his fellow Liberian justice activist.
By Anthony Stephens, senior justice correspondent with New Narratives
Werner is the director of Civitas Maxima, the Swiss-based justice activists. Bility is the director of Global Justice and Research Project. The two organizations have been behind the prosecutions of 15 Liberian war-related cases in Europe and the US.
White, who is based in Texas in the United States, did not appear in court. He was found guilty in absentia. He had appealed the prosecutor office’s 2024 ruling. The case stems from a July 2019 email White sent to a Swiss lawyer, accusing the pair of making millions of euros by pursuing cases against Liberians through false testimonies. White has made the same claim in forums in the United States as have other allies including Jerome Verdier, the former chair of Liberia’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
As he has done with every request Front Page Africa has sent to him, White did not respond to requests for comment for this story.
Bility celebrated the ruling.
“This is a victory of true justice over the attempted commercialization of the pains of the victims of the two Liberian civil wars by lobbyists who had wrongly thought they could lead the Liberian people through a dark tunnel, the end of which only they could see,” said Bility in a WhatsApp text message. “It’s a testament to our independence, professionalism and commitment to justice for our people, the Liberian people. Our commitment to justice has been further strengthened. As a victim of war related crime (torture) myself, I will never allow the commercialization of justice, for such noble goal cannot be exchanged for profit.”
White has long connections to Liberia’s politics and push for accountability for gross human rights violations committed during the country’s civil wars, which ended nearly 22 years ago. An estimated 250,000 people were killed during the wars, with millions displaced. White had a meeting with Joseph Boakai, Liberia’s president, during the early days of his government in January 2024, in which his critics said he projected himself as a lead campaigner for a Liberian war crimes court.
The meeting raised eyebrows among White’s critics and court’s advocates. US Representative Chris Smith had claimed during a Congressional Hearing in 2024 that White had been recognized by the president as “a trusted adviser and has personally requested him to assist in the establishment of the court.” But the statement was rejected by court advocates.
There was another controversy entangling White in 2021. Front Page Africa reported that the Liberian Renaissance Office Inc., a firm that White co-owned, had signed a $US180,000 agreement with four Liberian opposition political parties for public relations purposes. The parties were the All Liberian Party of Benoni Urey, a former ally of convicted war criminal and former president, Charles Taylor; the Unity Party which was then in opposition; the Alternative National Congress of ex-Coca Cola executive, Alexander Cummings, and the Liberty Party. It was meant for the firm to lobby for US support for the then opposition alliance. Mr. Sylvester Grigsby, Liberia’s current Minister of State for Presidential Affairs, headed the firm.
The Swiss court’s ruling is the latest in a series of condemnations against White for his comments against justice advocates. In 2024, he was called out by Beth Van Schaack, the last US ambassador for Global Criminal Justice, for his “unsubstantiated allegations” against leading human rights activists in a Congressional committee hearing in Washington D.C.
“I call on President Boakai to maintain his position on the accountability process being Liberian led. Let this message go forth from here to those who see the process as a means of commerce,” said Mr. Bility. “There’s no room for colonialism in this process. We were the victims, and we (the Liberian people) will lead the process. There’s no middle ground in this one.”
This story is a collaboration with New Narratives as part of the West Africa Justice Reporting Project. Funding was provided by the Swedish embassy in Liberia. The donor had no say in the story’s content.
