[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

LIBYA:


DEATH SENTENCES FOR AL-GADDAFI OFFICIALS

A Libyan court has sentenced to death nine men, all former members of Colonel 
Muammar al-Gaddafi’s
regime, including his son Saif al-Islam and head of Military Intelligence 
Abdallah al-Senussi. The
men’s trial was seriously flawed.

Click here to view the full Urgent Action in Word or PDF format, including case 
information,
addresses and sample messages.

The trial of the “symbols of the former regime”, as it was known in Libya, ran 
from 24 March 2014 to
21 May 2015. Sentences were handed down on 28 July. Saif al-Islam al-Gaddafi, 
Abdallah al-Senussi
and 35 other officials, including former diplomats, ministers and members of 
security agencies, were
charged with a string of offenses relating to the 2011 uprising that overthrew 
Colonel al-Gaddafi
and the ensuing conflict, including indiscriminate shelling, incitement to 
rape, giving orders to
open fire at demonstrators, recruiting and arming mercenaries and acts of 
vandalism. Due to renewed
violence, Libya is now divided between two separate governments, and the 
Ministry of Justice of the
internationally recognized government has said that it will not recognize the 
court’s verdict.

Among the former officials sentenced to death were Prime Minister Al-Baghdadi 
al-Mahmoudi, head of
the Revolutionary Guard Mansour Daw, head of External Security Abu Zeid Dorda, 
head of the Tripoli
branch of Internal Security Milad Salman Daman, Brigadier-General Mondher 
Mukhtar al-Gheneimi,
Colonel in the Military Intelligence Department Abdel Hamid Ammar Awheida Amer 
and University of
Tripoli Faculty of Law member Awaidat Ghandur Abu Sufa. A further 23 were given 
sentences ranging
from five years in prison to life imprisonment. Four were acquitted and one was 
referred to a mental
health clinic, without being sentenced. Those convicted are expected to appeal 
to the cassation
chamber of Libya’s Supreme Court.

The proceedings against the nine men were deeply flawed during the 
investigation phase and at trial.
In particular, the authorities failed to ensure the defendants’ due process 
rights, including the
right to legal counsel, to remain silent, to be promptly informed of the 
charges against them and to
be present at trial. In some cases, detainees were held in unofficial detention 
places and detained
incommunicado for extended periods. The authorities also failed to investigate 
defense lawyers’
allegations that the men had been tortured and otherwise ill-treated.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Many of the 37 defendants in the trial of the “symbols of the former regime” 
were denied the right
to legal counsel, to remain silent, to be promptly informed of the charges 
against them, to
challenge the evidence brought against them, and to be present at trial. Some 
of them were held
incommunicado and in unofficial detention places for extended periods.

Click here to view the full Urgent Action in Word or PDF format.

Names: Saif al-Islam al-Gaddafi (m), Abdallah al-Senussi (m), al-Baghdadi 
al-Mahmoudi (m), Mansour
Daw Ibrahim Mansour (m), Abu Zeid Omar Dorda (m), Milad Salman Daman (m), 
Mondher Mukhtar
al-Gheneimi (m), Abdel Hamid Ammar Awheida Amer (m), Awaidat Ghandur Abu Sufa 
(m)
Issues: Death penalty, Unfair trial, Torture/ill-treatment
UA: 166/15 Issue Date: 31 July 2015
Country: Libya

Please let us know if you took action so that we can track our impact!

EITHER send a short email to uan at aiusa.org with “UA 166/15” in the subject 
line, and include in the
body of the email the number of letters and/or emails you sent,

OR fill out this short online form to let us know how you took action.

Thank you for taking action! Please check with the AIUSA Urgent Action Office 
if taking action after
the appeals date. If you receive a response from a government official, please 
forward it to us at
uan at aiusa.org or to the Urgent Action Office address below.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Please write immediately in Arabic, English or your own language:
  *  Urging the Libyan authorities to quash all death sentences handed down to 
the nine former
     officials and order a retrial with full international standards guarantees 
and without recourse
     to the death penalty, for all those convicted;
  *  Calling on them to establish immediately an official moratorium on 
executions, as a first step
     towards abolition;
  *  Urging them to order independent and impartial investigations into all 
allegations of torture
     and other ill-treatment.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 11 SEPTEMBER 2015 TO:

Minister of Justice
Mustafa Klib
National Salvation Government
Tripoli
Libya
Fax: 011 218 21 4805427
Email: secretary at aladel.gov.ly Salutation: Your Excellency

And copies to:
General Prosecutor
Mr Ibrahim Bshaya
Office of the General Prosecutor
Court Complex
Tripoli, Libya
Fax: 011 218 21 33607951
Email: INFO at LAGO.LY

Minister of Justice
Almabrouk Egrira
Interim Government of Libya
Al-Bayda
Libya
Email: info at aladelly.com Salutation: Your Excellency


Also send copies to: Ambassador Ali Suleiman Aujali, Embassy of the Libyan Arab 
Jamahiriya
2600 Virginia Ave NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20037
Fax: 1 202 944 9606 I Phone: 1 202 944 9601 I Email: info at EmbassyOfLibyadc.org

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