CAIRO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th January, 2022) Libyan Health Minister Ali Al-Zenati and one of his deputies were detained on charges of corruption, the Libyan prosecutor's office said on Wednesday.
Al-Zenati and his deputy were detained in Tripoli International Airport on Tuesday after refusing to appear for questioning on charges of corruption.
The prosecution said that the health ministry were procuring oxygen concentrators, used to treat those infected with COVID-19, at 10 times the market value. The minister and his deputy were also accused of concluding contracts with "incompetent contractors after the factual completion of works and acceptance procedures."
"Taking into account that there was sufficient evidence that they had committed attributed crimes, the prosecutor's office ordered their pre-trial detention," the prosecutor's office said.
Al-Zenati became the third Libyan minister arrested on corruption charges in the last two months. In mid-December, Libyan Minister of education Musa al-Maqrif was detained on corruption allegations. On December 29, Libyan chief prosecutor Al-Sediq al-Sour ordered the detention of Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development Mabrouka Othman on charges of misappropriation of funds, as well as falsification of documents during the renovation of the ministry's facilities.
