Libya: Haftar lawyer asks to freeze trial so he can run for president

A lawyer representing Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar has filed a petition to the Federal Court of Eastern Virginia in the US asking to suspend his trial on war crimes charges so that he can run in the Libyan presidential election. The petition has been submitted, he explained, “To prevent the issue from being used as a tool to impede Haftar from running for the presidency.”

The head of the US-based Foundation for Democracy and Human Right, Imad El-Din Zuhri Al-Muntasir, said that the petition is based on the declaration issued by America, Britain, Italy, France and Germany, which called on the Libyan parliament and the state to issue the constitutional basis for elections. Moreover, Libyan groups met in Geneva to discuss the way forward for the North African state in response to the demands of the five countries.

The petition follows a meeting of the Chief of Staff of Haftar’s forces with the Prime Minister of the National Unity Government in Tripoli this week, where a ceasefire was discussed as well as the unification of the military institutions in Libya.

Al-Muntasir explained that there is a strong desire to hold elections in Libya in the near future. Haftar, he insisted, intends to stand as a candidate in the presidential election.

READ: Libya’s rival commanders agree to start uniting military

However, the head of the Libyan-American coalition, Essam Omeish, described this move as “the last desperate and miserable attempt” to spare Haftar from a conviction in absentia for committing war crimes and killing many Libyan citizens.

Omeish said that the hearing in the Federal Court of Eastern Virginia will take place on Friday, 29 July. The Libyan-American alliance, he pointed out, will be with the lawyers representing the families of the victims to refute all of the “lies” presented by the war criminal’s defence team. The alliance, he added, will demand justice and a conviction in absentia as soon as possible, which was among the recommendations of the assistant judge in the previous court session.