Freed journalist still unable to talk

By Maha Ellawati.

Benghazi, March 29:  Prosecutors in Benghazi are still waiting to interview Sharifa Alfisa, the Libyan journalist who was abducted . . .[restrict]and beaten before being released by her captors on Sunday.  She is now at home.  Officials say that she is still in such a distressed state that they cannot allow anyone access to her at present.

Alfisa was taken to the city’s Birka district police station in Benghazi at around 1.30am on Sunday morning by a security patrol after being found in a state of hysteria. There were signs of beating and torture on her body.  She was kept safe at the police station, attended by a police woman while initial investigations took place before being handed over to her father and one of her relatives.

However, due to her state she was taken directly to the psychiatric hospital in Benghazi.

An incident report has been handed over to the prosecution office.  Officials say that initial reports that she was seized by Salafists are wholly untrue.  They think that the abduction may have been carried out by someone motivated by revenge.

Bengahzi-based Alfisa has worked as a journalist for several years and has been outspoken, even during the during the Qaddafi regime when she wrote a number articles criticizing it.   It resulted in her being disowned by members of her family and tribe because of fears of the old regime. She published several articles about the Abu Saleem prison massacre. She interviewed the victims’ families.  She also spoke out about the corruption and many other issues to the regime’s dissatisfaction. She worked to expose many local corruption issues.

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