Libya prosecutor files legal response to HNEC to halt candidacy of Haftar, Saif al-Islam

Libya’s military prosecutor has called for halting the candidacy of  Khalifa Haftar and Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, for Libya’s presidential elections.

Libya al-Ahrar TV said military prosecutor Masoud Erhouma submitted a request to Emad Al-Sayeh, the head of the High National Elections Commission (HNEC), asking for halting the candidacy of the two men.

The prosecutor asked the two presidential hopefuls to appear before him to answer accusations of murder against them.

In his request, Erhouma said a lawsuit was filed against Gaddafi and Haftar related to the killing of civilians in Espiaa town, south of Tripoli, by Russian Wagner mercenaries.

The military prosecutor, however, didn’t specify the link of Saif al-Islam to the killings in Espiaa.

He added that Haftar is also accused of killing 63 illegal migrants in Tajoura town, east of Tripoli, in July 2019, two Libyans in a shelling on the northwestern al-Zawiyah city in Dec. 2019 and 26 students in an attack on a military academy in Tripoli on Dec. 2020.

As of Sunday, 61 candidates applied to run in the Dec. 24 presidential elections, including Haftar and Saif al-Islam.

Libya’s presidential and parliamentary elections are set to take place on Dec. 24.