The permanent court-martial in Misrata has sentenced Khalifa Haftar to death in absentia for bombing Misrata Air Defense College in 2019 and causing the killing of one Libyan Army soldier after strikes by a military plane under the command of Haftar’s forces.
According to the text of Thursday’s ruling, the Military Prosecutor’s Office issued an arrest warrant against Haftar and requested the Military Police Department to implement the sentence against him and six other high-ranking officers
The Military Prosecutor had called earlier in an official order to Criminal Investigation Apparatus to execute a previous order to arrest Haftar over five cases and violations to military laws in 2019 and 2020.
“Haftar is a Libyan Army officer and submitted his presidential candidacy at the High National Elections Commission, thus the law says any military officer who meets with political parties or joins a political entity or election campaign is subject to no more than five years of imprisonment.” He said.
73 candidates were listed by the High National Elections Commission on Wednesday as preliminary potential candidates to take on the race for the December 24 vote, including Haftar, HoR Speaker Aqila Saleh, and current Prime Minister Abdul-Hamid Dbeibah, while 25 others were disqualified, including Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi and Nuri Abu Sahmain.