Trial of Libyan ex-PM to open Monday: prosecution

By AFP


TRIPOLI

The trial of late dictator Muammar Gaddafi's last prime minister, Al-Baghdadi al-Mahmudi, is to open in the Libyan capital on Monday, the public prosecutor's spokesman said.

"Al-Baghdadi al-Mahmudi will appear tomorrow (Monday) on the occasion of a first case" against him, Taha Baara said, adding that Mahmudi faces charges of "prejudicial acts against the security of the state."

Mahmudi fled to neighbouring Tunisia in September last year shortly after rebels seized Tripoli, effectively putting an end to more than four decades of iron-fisted Gaddafi rule.

He was extradited to Libya to face justice on June 24, despite warnings from rights groups that he could face the death penalty.

In July, Mahmudi protested his innocence from his prison cell in the Libyan capital.

"I am not guilty, not guilty, not guilty," he told reporters during a visit to the prison organised by the authorities in an apparent bid to quash rumours he had been tortured.

"I am ready to be tried by the Libyan people. I am sure of myself and of my innocence," he said at the time.

Source: Daily Nation (12/11/2012): http://www.nation.co.ke/News/africa/Trial-of-Libyan-ex-PM-to-open-Monday/-/1066/1617774/-/492pe2z/-/index.html