South African prosecutors have dropped charges against 95 Libyans who were arrested on suspicion of receiving training at an “illegal military camp” but all suspects will be deported.
The case was withdrawn over lack of sufficient evidence for prosecution, the National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Monica Nyuswa said.
Heritage Times HT reports that they were instead charged with only breach in South Africa’s immigration laws, which leads to deportation.
The Home Affairs department said in a statement it would ensure “the deportations are conducted swiftly”.
One of the men’s lawyers, Nico du Plessis, told Associated Press the group was “happy” the charges had been dropped.
The group is expected to be deported to Libya’s second city, Benghazi.
The group were arrested in July after South African police raided a farm in White River – a small town in the northern province of Mpumalanga.
At the time of the arrest, a police spokesperson said the group had “misrepresented themselves” on their visa applications by saying they would be training as security guards.
Heritage Times HT had reported that firearms and military tents were allegedly found at the camp, along with cocaine and cannabis.
