Liberia, 1988 — dissident coup conspiracy
Event Summary
This entry is coded 22 March 1988, corresponding to the March 1988 coup plot against President Samuel Doe of Liberia, which his government announced it had foiled. The government said it had uncovered a plot to assassinate Doe and overthrow the government, and accused at least 21 people of involvement, of whom about 13 to 14 were charged with treason. Among those implicated was opposition leader Gabriel Kpolleh of the banned Liberia Unification Party, whose continued imprisonment for treason became emblematic of Doe's drive to crush all opposition and impose a de facto one-party state.
Shortly after his arrest, one alleged co-conspirator, Joseph Kaipaye, died under mysterious circumstances, reportedly thrown from a balcony of the Executive Mansion. This was one of a recurring series of alleged plots that Doe used to justify crackdowns, coming after the crushed November 1985 Quiwonkpa coup and months before the July 1988 attempt in which former deputy General Nicholas Podier was killed. The 22 March 1988 coding matches this March 1988 plot.
Researched Details
Researched
Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.
Sources
Editorial Note
Cross-Reference
Only one dataset carries it. One of the three reference datasets we check against carries this event; the others do not list it. That is not a contradiction — the datasets cover different periods and use different thresholds — but it means the record has had less outside corroboration.
Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:
- Cline Center id
45003221988
How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.
Outcome and Target
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: Doe crushed the plot and jailed Kpolleh; Doe was overthrown and killed in 1990.
Baseline coding: Plot discovered and disrupted before execution. Recorded leader fate: remained in office; not physically harmed. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.
Baseline Dataset Citation
Baseline Source-Document Entries
CSP
Montreal Gazette
Newsday
This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →