The Tripoli Criminal Court ruled Monday to sentence the former First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, Al-Siddiq AbdulKarim, for a prison time of five years, in addition to sentencing five other officials from Ali Zidan’s government for 42 months in jail over financial corruption.
A statement published by the Public Prosecutor’s Office on its Facebook page indicated that the judiciary had looked into the violations attributed to the defendants regarding their activity that resulted in financial obligations owed by the state.
The statement added that as a result of violating the rules of contracting by the management bodies, the court estimated the amount of damage to public money they caused and fined them an amount of 270,860,528 dinars, and stripped them of their civil rights.
AbdulKarim submitted in November 2021 his candidacy for presidential elections to the High National Elections Commission in Tripoli, and said in a speech afterward that he would like to work with everyone in order to bring Libya to safety.
However, on January 5, 2022, the Public Prosecutor’s Office detained AbdulKarim pending investigation into violating the rules governing the contracting procedures of the management bodies and hampering the oversight measures of the Audit Bureau.
