GENEVA: Two Swiss businessmen prevented from leaving Libya for more than a year will be tried for tax evasion and visa irregularities, Libya’s Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.
The men have been held in Libya since July 2008 following the arrest in Geneva of a son of Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi on charges, later dropped, of mistreating two domestic employees. The incident caused a diplomatic row.
“They will be tried and charged with not respecting residence visa procedures and tax evasion,” the ministry said in a statement read to reporters at a news conference by its general secretary, Khalid Qouaim.
The men face a third charge of failing to respect rules set out for companies working in Libya, he added.
A Swiss Foreign Ministry spokesman in Bern said he had no immediate reaction.
The couple was released soon after their arrest and charges were dropped.
An apology in August by Swiss President Hans-Rudolf Merz failed to secure a return home for Rachid Hamdani, who works for a construction company, and Max Goeldi, Libya head of the Swiss-Swedish electrical engineering conglomerate ABB.
The businessmen were handed back to the Swiss embassy on Monday from an undisclosed location, but Qouaim said they must now leave the embassy and choose another place to stay so they can be reached by their lawyers and law enforcement officials.
He said they would appear very soon in court, probably before Christmas. The government would not interfere in the case but would ensure it is dealt with speedily.
“Libya’s Foreign Ministry is surprised by the Swiss foreign ministry’s stand linking the case of the two Swiss to the (Hannibal Qaddafi) incident between Libya and Switzerland,” said Qouaim.
He denied a Swiss assertion that the two had been kidnapped but said a decision to move them was made because there had been talk that Switzerland could send special forces to free them.
“Before they were handed to the embassy they had been free to move within Libya but not to leave the country, but we put them in a safe place,” he said.
