Libya’s oversight entity, the Administrative Control Authority (ACA), reported yesterday that the Tripoli Court of Appeal issued its judgment on 16 February 2026, finding former Director General of Libya’s Executive Authority for Special Flights (which refers to itself in English as the EACS for short) guilty of violating the provisions of the law and neglecting the preservation and maintenance of public funds.
The Fifth Criminal Circuit of the Tripoli Court of Appeal sentenced the accused to imprisonment for five years and six months and obliged him to pay thirteen million US dollars and six hundred thousand euros, without criminal expenses.
Three Antonov AN 124 engines disappeared
The ACA explained that it had filed Public Prosecution No. (299-2022) against the officials of the EACS, when it became clear to it that three engines belonging to the Antonov AN-124 cargo plane had disappeared from Tripoli International Airport.
The ACA had named as defendant the former Director General of the EACS for taking a series of measures on 11 June 2020 by assigning an air transport company to transport the engines to Turkey for maintenance and overhaul, in preparation for their installation on the plane parked in Ukraine.
This action, the ACA reports, was taken without informing the relevant (technical, administrative, and financial) EACS departments about the details and circumstances of the transport. The action was also taken without following the legal approach in this regard by forming a technical committee to inspect and examine the engines according to the specialization, and without providing the financial cover for the maintenance and overhaul work and completing the transfer and disbursement process.
This, the ACA said, resulted in the engines being exposed to corrosion and damage in the country of maintenance, despite their market value ranging between US$ 12 and US$ 14 million. The EACS also incurred €600,000 in storage fees for the engines.
In light of this, and after completing the investigation procedures, questioning all those involved in the events, and the investigating officer’s firm conviction of the criminal liability of the individual in question, he referred the case to the Indictment Chamber of the North Tripoli Court of First Instance. He requested that the accused be referred to the Criminal Division of the Tripoli Court of Appeal for processing according to the charges and description contained in the indictment.
The Indictment Chamber, having considered the facts of the case it had established, found the individual guilty of violating the provisions of the law and neglecting the preservation and maintenance of public funds.
The Fifth Criminal Circuit of the Tripoli Court of Appeal subsequently, Libyan media reports, issued its judgment and sentence in absentia.
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