By Susan Kendi
A second warrant has been issued for the arrest of Mahmoud Mustafa Busayf Al-Werfalli, a commander in the Al-Saiqa Brigade, for his alleged responsibility for murder as a war crime in Libya.
The arrest warrant is in respect to murder committed in an eighth incident where 10 people were shot dead in front of the Bi’at al-Radwan Mosque in Benghazi, Libya. The first arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court on August 15, 2017 was for allegedly committing murder in the “context of seven incidents, involving 33 persons, which took place from on or before June 3, 2016 until on or about July 17, 2017 in Benghazi or surrounding areas, in Libya.”
ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda issued a statement asking for the arrest and surrender of Mr Al Werfalli to the ICC and giving assurances that the judges will “independently and impartially access the evidence to determine his guilt or innocence.”
She added that the prosecution is investigating the crimes committed by the suspect and called upon the Libyan authorities and ICC state parties to take action necessary to ensure the arrest and handing over of Mr Al Werfalli into the court’s custody.
The Pre-Trial Chamber I of the ICC issued an arrest warrant after finding that there were credible reasons to believe that Mr Al Werfalli is accountable for “seven rounds of executions” where 33 people were murdered. Mr Al Werfalli is at large and is alleged to be committing more crimes.
The Libyan situation was referred to the ICC prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda by the United Nations Security Council. One month later, Bensouda formally made known the decision to open an investigation.
