The trial of the 95 Libyans arrested after a raid on an illegal military training camp in the city of White River has been postponed to August 5, the South African National Police said Tuesday.
The case was postponed to August 5, and the Libyans will remain in custody after they appeared before the city's District Court on Monday, the police said in a post on X platform.
A South African newspaper reported on Tuesday that Attorney General Martin Britz asked the court to postpone the case until next month, while the court seeks to hire an Arabic translator. The newspaper cited the Libyan detainees as saying that a famous Libyan businessman financed their trip to South Africa and covered all travel and accommodation expenses.
They confirmed that he was the one who hired them and sent them to the training camp on a farm in Mpumalanga State, but he disappeared a month ago and stopped answering their calls. He also stopped sending money to those running the camp.
The 95 Libyans appeared in the White River District Court Monday on charges of forgery and contravening immigration law while applying for South African visas. The discovery of the training camp has sparked public outrage in South Africa and raised questions about the country’s internal security, the newspaper reported.
The arrested Libyans revealed that they arrived in South Africa last April in Mpumalanga, where they were scheduled to receive security training.
The arrested Libyans arrived in three trucks at the White River Courthouse on Monday and were divided into groups of ten before being allowed into the courtroom, which had been cleared to accommodate them all. Only journalists and staff were allowed to attend the hearing.
Last Friday, South African police raided a training camp belonging to a local security company, Militus De Securité, in White River. Police said the detainees were receiving illegal military training.
