Libya: A British news site revealed that the family of Marshal Khalifa Haftar liquidated their real estate in the United States of America, for fear of lawsuits and payment of compensation.
In a report titled “Exclusive: Khalifa Haftar’s family liquidates US property amid lawsuit”, the Middle East Eye website said the Khalifa Haftar family quietly liquidated their portfolio of US real estate, and sold a multi-million dollar house in Virginia, along with a separate house and another six-figure property as Khalifa Haftar’s legal troubles escalate there.
The website said in its report that on March 21, Okba Haftar, the son of Marshal Haftar who is based in the United States, sold a five-bedroom, six-bathroom, 7,300 square foot house in Great Falls in Virginia for $2.55. million, according to public records reviewed by the Middle East. East-Eye”.
The sale came less than two weeks after a US judge ordered the continuation of a lawsuit accusing the Libyan army of having committed war crimes, after a suspension of legal proceedings that lasted several months.
Haftar has a huge portfolio of international real estate, with at least one mansion in an upscale suburb of Amman, Jordan, as well as properties in the United Arab Emirates, according to a family member.
Khalifa Haftar is being tried under the Protection of Victims of Torture Act 1991. The law allows family members of victims of extrajudicial executions and torture committed by individuals acting in a government official capacity to sue the responsible.
US court finds Haftar guilty of war crimes
On July 29, 2022, the US court in Eastern Virginia convicted Marshal Khalifa Haftar of war crimes, after a court battle against him in the United States was fought by Libyans who accused him of torture and extrajudicial execution.
A US Federal Court judge in Virginia has found Khalifa Haftar responsible for the crimes he is accused of committing in Libya.
Judge Leonie Brinkema said Haftar is civilly liable for paying compensation to plaintiffs and added that date will be set for the next session to discuss compensation for the victims’ families.
Libyan families had filed a lawsuit against Haftar in Virginia courts, accusing his forces of carrying out attacks that killed 6 members of these families, and the lawsuit demanded financial compensation of one billion dollars.
The families wrote at the time that Haftar, as commander of the Libyan National Army, had “participated in a random war against the Libyan people: many men, women and children were killed in bombings and other civilians were tortured”.
These families based their request on an American law dating from 1991, the “Torture Victims Protection Act”, which makes it possible to prosecute any person exercising an official function in a foreign country who has committed acts of torture and/or extrajudicial executions.
