Libya
Libyan Muslim Brothers sentenced to death

afrol News, 19 February - The trial against scores of sympathisers with the banned Libyan Islamic Group, al-Jama'a al-Islamiya al-Libiya, also known as Muslim Brothers, ended in two death sentences and several life imprisonments. A group of 152 professionals and students had been arrested in and after June 1998. 

The 16 February trial was today denounced as "unfair" by Amnesty International, which claims many of the sentenced might be called "prisoners of conscience" - especially the two citizens receiving the death sentence, Abdullah Ahmed Izzedin and Salem Abu Hanak. 

- These sentences resulting from an unfair trial are a travesty of justice, the human rights group stated today. "We call on the Libyan authorities to withdraw the death sentences against Abdullah Ahmed Izzedin and Salem Abu Hanak. We also call on the Libyan authorities to review the trial with regard to all defendants with the aim of releasing all those punished solely for the exercise of their non-violent conscientiously held belief". 

Salem Abu Hanak, born in 1956 and father of five was the head of the Chemistry Department at the Faculty of Science of the University of Qar Younes in Benghazi. He was arrested on 5 June 1998. Abdullah Ahmed Izzedin, born in 1950 and father of four, was a lecturer at the Engineering Faculty of Tripoli when he was arrested on 7 June 1998. 

The two were among 152 professionals and students arrested in and after June 1998 on suspicion of supporting or sympathizing with the banned Libyan Islamic Group, al-Jama'a al-Islamiya al-Libiya, also known as Muslim Brothers, al-Ikhwan al-Muslimin. The Libyan Islamic Group is not known to have used or advocated violence. 

Since their arrests the detainees were kept incommunicado and their whereabouts remained unknown, according to Amnesty. "For more than two years they were deprived of their rights to have legal counsel and to receive visits from their relatives. There was no public report of any investigation into the allegations of torture raised by some of the defendants," the group claims. 

Their trial, also known as the "Muslim brothers' case", which began in March 2001, failed to conform with international standards for fair trial, including the right of a defendant to choose a lawyer. All the hearings of their cases by the People's Court, Mahkama al-Sha'b, were held behind closed doors in a military compound in the suburbs of Tripoli. 

The lawyers appointed by the families were neither allowed to study the files nor were they allowed to meet their clients. At the second session on 29 April 2001 they were denied access to the court and the judge appointed clerks from within the Popular Lawyers' Office, Maktab al-Muhama al-Sha'biyya. 

Defendants first met their relatives briefly on 29 April 2001 during the trial's second session. They were afterwards denied authorization to receive visits in Abu Salim prison in Tripoli until at least December 2001. Amnesty said it twice had applied to the Libyan authorities to receive permission to observe this trial but had been denied authorisation on both occasions. 

The defendants were apparently accused under the provisions Article 2 and 3 of Law 71 of 1972 and Article 206 of the Penal Code. Law 71 defines party activities in a way which encompasses almost any form of group activity based on a political ideology opposed to the principles of al-Fatih Revolution of 1 September 1969. Article 3 of Law 71 and Article 206 of the Penal Code state that "execution" is the punishment for those who call "for the establishment of any grouping, organisation or association proscribed by law", support or belong to such an organisation. 

In December 2001, the Gaddafi International Foundation for Charity Association (GDIFCA), headed by Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of Colonel Gaddafi promoting his country abroad, announced the release of 177 prisoners. This followed releases of scores of political prisoners in August and September 2001. 

However, hundreds of political prisoners, including prisoners of conscience, remained in detention, many without charge or trial. Among the hundreds of political prisoners who have not been released are five prisoners of conscience imprisoned since April 1973. They were sentenced to life imprisonment for membership of the Islamic Liberation Party.

Sources: Based on Amnesty and afrol archives

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