US federal judge Leonie Brinkema found Khalifa Haftar liable for war crimes in Libya and ruled Friday in a Virginia district hearing in favor of the victims’ families in all the lawsuits lodged at the court, according to a statement by the Libyan American Alliance to Libya Alahrar TV.
The Libyan American Alliance said the Virginia court’s judge rejected Haftar lawyer’s request to freeze the proceedings and ruled a default judgment against Haftar, compelling him to pay compensations for the families.
Likewise, the Head of the Democracy and Human Rights Foundation Emaddedin Muntasser told Libya Alahrar TV that finding Haftar liable for war crimes in the US opens the door for bringing him to justice along with his entourage, reiterating that the long-term impact of the US court’s ruling will affect the political and security future of the Libyan state.
“Ruling that Haftar is a war criminal will put any Western official who decides to deal with him in the future in an awkward position to their constituents.” Muntasser said, adding that the ruling in Virginia was a conviction before being a ruling for compensation.
Muntasser added that the next step would be setting the amount of financial compensations for the victims’ families and this could be done through civil courts.
