On Wednesday, Libya’s Attorney General’s Office said in a statement that the notorious Somali human trafficker, Hassan Qeidi and five others are being investigated over murder and rape crimes against migrants.
The Attorney General said the evidence confirmed that the Somali gang is linked with another gang in a neighbouring country, in order to facilitate the smuggling of migrants into Libya.
The gang was charged with smuggling, human trafficking, and the rape of migrants at gunpoint. As well as charges of killing migrants, and trafficking in their organs.
They were also charged with deliberately killing dozens of immigrants, forcibly detaining and torturing them, and demanding ransoms for their release.
The statement concluded that the Attorney General will “pursue all elements of organized criminal groups that contributed with the accused in committing these crimes.”
Qeidi was arrested last year during a raid conducted by the 444th Combat Brigade in Bani Walid.
Libya fell into chaos in 2011 after a NATO-backed uprising, which toppled long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi. Many migrants, mostly from Africa, use Libya to cross the Mediterranean sea to European shores.