Judges investigating Benghazi violence, says Interior Ministry

Tripoli, 23 December:

Judges have now begun looking into the recent violence in Benghazi, a spokesman for the Ministry of Interior said last night.

Majdi Al-Araffi, speaking at a press conference in Tripoli, said that the next stage would be legal proceedings into any recommendations made by the judges or the Attorney general.

Al-Araffi also said that since the latest bout of fighting broke out on Thursday, the security situation in the eastern city had been relatively stable.

Benghazi has seen a string of killings targeting senior security figures in recent months, in what some have seen as a coordinated campaign of assassinations, culminating in the murder of the city’s police chief, Faraj Drissi, last month.

More violence broke out in the city on Thursday after demonstrators gathered outside the General Security Directorate calling for the release of two prisoners they believed were being held there.

The protest escalated into a gun battle between security forces in the station and armed members of the crowd, and the ensuing clashes left a number of people dead and wounded.

Political, military and religious figures have spoken out in recent days to call for residents of the city to show self-restraint.