By Moutaz Ahmed and Noora Ibrahim.
Benghazi, 4 July 2014:
An ex-convict Rajab Al-Douli has been found dead and showing signs . . .[restrict]of torture two days after he was reportedly taken into custody by Benghazi Security Directorate.
A source at Bengahzi Medical Centre (BMC) told the Libya Herald that Douli had arrived at the hospital after being transferred from Al-Abyar hospital yesterday. The source said Douli’s body was discovered alongside that of another man who has been identified as Wail Al-Abbar. Both were found at a landfill in Al-Abyar, some 50 kilometres from Benghazi.
Reports in the media on Wednesday claimed that Douli had been captured by Benghazi Security Directorate. They quoted an anonymous security source as saying he was being held in connection with a number of crimes committed over the past three years.
No one from Benghazi Security Directorate or the city’s other security authorities has been available for comment.
Douli was a well known criminal in Benghazi, and is believed to have been involved in drug trafficking and other aspects of organised crime. He was imprisoned by the former regime but later released and led Qaddafi loyalists against protestors during the early days of the revolution.
Douli is not the first individual to have died in unexplained circumstances shortly after being taken into police custody in Benghazi in recent days.
Salem Ahmed Abdul Qader, the sole witness to the death of Salwa Bughagis, was pronounced dead on arrival at BMC, again showing signs of torture, after he was questioned by security forces six days ago. It is not known exactly when or where he died.
Benghazi Joint Security Room (BJSR) said at the time that it would be launching an investigation into Qader’s death. The spokesman for BJSR, Ibrahim Al-Sharaa, told this paper that officials were waiting for a postmortem report from BMC to ascertain whether Abdul Qader died in police custody or en route to the hospital.
The results of the postmortem were expected days ago. Awad Alqawiri, a member of both the new Benghazi Municipal Council and the city’s hospitals and clinics association, has said Qader’s case was now the sole responsibility of BJSR and that its forensic experts, not staff at BMC, had been asked to carry out the postmortem.
He said he did not know why the results had not been forthcoming.
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