The Libyan American Alliance (LAA), a non-partisan group dedicated to advocating for rule of law, democracy, a civil state, and an end to the conflict in Libya, held a press conference outside the courtroom in Virginia immediately after Judge Nachmanoff (and presiding Judge Brinkema) announce the verdict in a lawsuit brought against Libyan militia leader Khalifa Hafter. Victims named in the lawsuit and the lawyer representing them in the case, Mr. Faisal Gill, will join LAA leaders at the media event.
On June 25, 2019, family members of those brutally killed by Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar and his militias filed a lawsuit against Haftar, a U.S. citizen, accusing him of war crimes. During the same period, a bipartisan letter was sent to the US Department of Justice requesting an investigation into alleged war crimes committed by Haftar and by militias under his command.
During the hearing last Friday, the federal magistrate ruled that the court needs more information before issuing a judgment on the case against Haftar. The magistrate asked for further clarification on how the indiscriminate killing attributed to Haftar is covered by the U.S. law cited in the lawsuit. He also raised concerns about the difficulty of receiving a response from Haftar on the case. Faisal Gill, LAA’s attorney on the case, is confident that he can supply the court with the required information and attain the default judgment families were hoping for.
For further details on the lawsuit, see AP coverage here and in The Washington Times here.
For further details on LAA, visit libyanamericanalliance.org.