By Sami Zaptia.
London, 16 August 2018:
UNSMIL has today expressed its concern on the 45 death sentence by firing squad passed by a Tripoli Court of Appeal yesterday on 45 people aligned to the Qaddafi regime who had opened fire on pro 2011 revolution supporting protestors on the main Tripoli motorway back in 2011.
In its statement today, UNSMIL said that ‘‘the verdict announced on 15 August 2018 by the Criminal Circuit of the Court of Appeal of Tripoli is a cause of concern, given the 45 death sentences pronounced.
UNSMIL recognizes efforts by the Libyan judiciary to hold people to account for crimes committed during the 2011 Revolution, especially amid armed conflict and political polarization. However, the United Nations opposes the imposition of the death penalty as a matter of principle’’, the short statement concluded.
It will be recalled that despite other death sentences being issued by Libyan courts against former Qaddafi supporters since the 2011 revolution, none of these sentences have been carried out.
