On Thursday, the Libyan Attorney General, Al-Siddiq Al-Sour ordered the arrest of the Chargé d’Affairs of the Libyan Embassy in South Africa, on charges of “abusing the powers of his position, and gaining illegal benefits.”
In a statement, the Office of the Attorney General said that this came as part of the Public Prosecution’s efforts to continue combating the financial and administrative corruption committed by officials.
The investigations revealed that the accused had “committed crimes of seizing public money, obtaining material benefits in violation of laws, and spending public money in a manner other than its intended purpose.”
The Chargé d’Affairs also reportedly “illegally ordered the payment of salaries to persons who are no longer employed by the mission. He also granted end-of-service benefits to others who haven’t left their offices yet.”
In October, the Libyan Attorney General ordered the arrest of the former Head of Libya’s Embassy in Uganda. This was a precaution for his “intentional disposal of $250,000.”
The Office of the Attorney General said that this is “part of the Public Prosecution’s efforts to continue combating corruption, and apprehending perpetrators.”
The Deputy Public Prosecution took charge of examining and reviewing the administrative and financial work assigned to the Libyan mission to Uganda from 2013-2017.
“By investigating the reality of the actions of the employee subject to the procedures; examining the elements of the crimes that were received during the interrogation; the Public Prosecution found that the accused deliberately disposed of $250,000 in violation of the requirements of the legislation regulating the disbursement of public money, and he deliberately harmed public funds.”
The statement added the accused contributed to achieving illegal material benefits for others, which amounted to $760,000.
He violated the disciplinary duties by exceeding the limits of his competencies and preventing the financial controller from performing the work assigned to him. Thus, the investigator ended up ordering the pretrial detention of the accused.”
In a related context, Al-Sour ordered the detention of the Head of the Libyan Embassy in South Africa and his financial controller over charges of financial corruption.
This came after a number of supervisory reports showed administrative and financial abuses by the head of mission and the financial controller.
The investigations revealed that the accused “had committed crimes of seizing public money, obtaining material benefits in violation of laws, and spending public money in a manner other than its intended purpose.”