LIBYAN courts have delivered justice for the thousands who died in the deadly flood in the city of Derna last year, sentencing 12 officials to prison terms ranging from 9 to 27 years. The officials, responsible for managing the country’s dams, were convicted in connection with the collapse of a series of dams that devastated the coastal city during Storm Daniel in September 2023.
According to Reuters, the Court of Appeal in Derna handed down the sentences, while acquitting four other officials. The Attorney General in Tripoli stated that three of the defendants were also ordered to return money obtained through illicit gains. A judicial source told Reuters that the convicted officials were charged with negligence, premeditated murder, and waste of public money, and have the right to appeal the verdicts.
The catastrophic floods killed thousands of Derna’s 125,000 residents, with thousands more reported missing. The disaster swept away buildings and destroyed entire neighbourhoods. A report by the World Bank, United Nations, and European Union in January estimated that $1.8 billion would be needed for reconstruction and recovery efforts.
The report attributed the dams’ collapse partly to outdated design based on old hydrological information, and partly to poor maintenance and governance issues stemming from over a decade of conflict in Libya.
Reuters reports that Libya has been divided between rival power centres in the east and west since 2014, following the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that toppled Muammar Gaddafi.
(Source: Reuters)
