Zawiya, 10 May:
The first civil trial of five alleged supporters of the Qaddafi regime began in Zawiya on Tuesday. The men . . .[restrict]are accused of planning to create instability in Libya by “terrorist acts”, officials said.
The session judge, Amer Al-Turki, did not read out a charge sheet, instead adjourning the trial to next Tuesday.
Ali Ashaab Mohammed, the head of the court, said the men had been arrested in Zawiya, and that “some of them confessed that they took part in fighting battles in some areas”. The trial is being held in Zawiya, some 40 kilometres west of Tripoli, at the request of the men’s defence lawyers.
Mohammed added that the men were accused of leading criminal gangs and were found in possession of unauthorised weapons.
Although this is the first civil trial of alleged Qaddafi supporters, a military trial of 40 people accused of conspiring against the Libyan revolution was begun in Benghazi in February, but abandoned three weeks later. In that case, the court ruled that it could not pursue the trial since all of the defendants were civilians.
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