No Result
View All Result
Monday, July 7, 2025
23 °c
Tripoli
24 ° Sat
24 ° Sun
  • Advertising
  • Contact
LibyaHerald
  • Home
  • Libya
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Magazine
  • Advertising
  • Login
  • Register
SUBSCRIBE
  • Home
  • Libya
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Magazine
  • Advertising
  • Login
  • Register
No Result
View All Result
LibyaHerald
No Result
View All Result
Home Libya

Ansar Al-Sharia tightens hold in Derna and formally establishes Islamic Court

byNewsdesk2
October 22, 2014
Reading Time: 3 mins read
A A
Ansar Al-Sharia tightens hold in Derna and formally establishes Islamic Court

Photo: Social media

By Libya Herald staff.

The new Islamic Court in Derna (Photo: Social media)
The new Islamic Court in Derna (Photo: Social media)

22 October 2014:

Following its declaration of allegiance to the Islamic State (or Daesh), Derna’s Shoura Council of . . .[restrict]Islamic Youth (SCIY), part of the local Ansar Al-Sharia structure, has moved to formally institute an Islamic Court in the town.

A Yemeni, variously named as Abu Al-Bara Al-Azadi or Abu Taleb Al-Jazrawi, is now said to head the court, housed in the public legal aid building next to the King Idris library. His assistant is said to be from Algeria. Over the weekend, it handed down a sentence of public flogging for a group of young men found guilty of alcohol abuse. The punishment was carried out on Saturday in the courtyard of the town’s old mosque.

In August, the SCIY carried out two public executions supposedly as a result of a Sharia court trial but illegal under Libyan law.

RELATED POSTS

Eastern Libyan government engages Turkish company to assess safety of dams

Libya’s Derna flood response cost lives – independent investigation needed: HRW

It is meanwhile reported that Jazrawi has met with education authorities in Derna to demand that they stop teaching foreign languages, physics, chemistry and biology. In August, a wall was built across one of the town’s university campuses to segregate male and female students.

As part of the new Sharia legal system, illuminated Islamic State signs can now be seen around the town. One of the police stations has a new sign up, reading “Islamic Police” in Arabic. Police vehicles too denote themselves as belonging to the Islamic Police.

There was an earlier move to set up an Islamic court in Derna. In May, SCIY took over the same building, formerly the Qaddafi regime’s People’s Committee offices, and announced it would be converted into an Islamic court. However, a few days later the sign on the building to that effect disappeared and nothing happened. At the time, a local official told the Libya Herald that there were problems because there were no qualified Sharia court judges in the country. They would have to be brought in from outside the country, he said. That issue now seems to have been dealt with.

Photo: Social Media
Islamic police offices in Derna (Photo: Social media)

Meanwhile, reports that Salem Derbi, commander of Derna’s Abu Sleem Martyrs Brigade, had fled to Turkey and requested asylum there have turned out to be untrue.

Derbi, who narrowly escaped an assassination attempt in July, has appeared on a video confirming that he is still in Derna and has no plans to leave.

Both he and his brigade have recently been involved in armed clashes against more Ansar Al-Sharia and the SCIY. His power, however, is said to be all but  gone. “The Abu Sleem Brigade has started to fizzle out,” a reliable Derna resident told this newspaper today, pointing out that Ansar Al-Sharia were now the undisputed masters of the town.

As for former Guantanamo inmate Sufian Ben Qumu whom many have seen as the leader of Ansar in Derna, he still had followers in the town “but not as many as Ansar” which, the source said, were busy recruiting teenagers to its ranks. In any event, he added, Ben Qumu was aligned with Al-Qaeda whereas the real leader of Ansar locally was Seraj Mohamed Ghafir.

In his 30s and from a wealthy local family, Ghafir, who had been prominent during the revolution and then turned the family farm into an Ansar camp, had also been busy recruiting locals to fight in Syria. Ghafir’s brother was killed there recently, the source added. [/restrict]

Tags: DernafeaturedIslamic StateLibyaYouth Shoura Council

Related Posts

Libya Herald exclusive: Responding to the prime minister’s call yesterday to the private sector and banks to do more, leading businessman Husni Bey responds
Business

Op-Ed: Reputational Damage Is Worse Than Losing Money

July 2, 2025
Libyan Russian Economic Forum starts in St. Petersburg
Libya

Libyan Russian Economic Forum starts in St. Petersburg

June 27, 2025
MoI establishes Elections Security and Protection Department
Libya

Aldabaiba and Menfi stress use of polling feedback to establish consensus basis for constitutional process: report and analysis

June 26, 2025
GNU to take oath at Benghazi HoR session and budget to be approved at Tripoli session: GNU
Libya

“There is no state built by gangs and criminality, it’s built by engineers, youth, consultants, security, police and army”: Aldabaiba

June 23, 2025
GNU to take oath at Benghazi HoR session and budget to be approved at Tripoli session: GNU
Libya

187 new security posts taken over from militias – PM declares victory for the state as all vital Tripoli sites come under its exclusive control for the first time since 2011

June 19, 2025
Interior Ministry’s Diplomatic Missions Protection personnel receiving training in Ukraine
Libya

The Interior Ministry had spent LD 50 billion in 13 years with no result: Acting Interior Minister Trabelsi

June 17, 2025
Next Post

Operation Dignity takes control of Gwarsha gate as fighting goes into seventh day

Libyan schools in Tunisia teach refugee family children

ADVERTISEMENT

Top Stories

  • Libya Herald exclusive: Responding to the prime minister’s call yesterday to the private sector and banks to do more, leading businessman Husni Bey responds

    Op-Ed: Reputational Damage Is Worse Than Losing Money

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • All imports into Libya must be paid for through official bank transactions

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • CBL demands imports are conducted through official banking instruments and the elimination of the FX black market

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • A 247,000-bpd oil production increase would achieve US$ 6 billion annually to enhance ability to meet FX demand, maintain strength of LD and achieve economic balance: CBL ‎

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Libya’s economy showed recovery in 2024, remained resilient despite reliance on hydrocarbons and ongoing political and security instability: World Bank

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
ADVERTISEMENT
LibyaHerald

The Libya Herald first appeared on 17 February 2012 – the first anniversary of the Libyan Revolution. Since then, it has become a favourite go-to source on news about Libya, for many in Libya and around the world, regularly attracting millions of hits.

Recent News

A 247,000-bpd oil production increase would achieve US$ 6 billion annually to enhance ability to meet FX demand, maintain strength of LD and achieve economic balance: CBL ‎

Op-Ed: Reputational Damage Is Worse Than Losing Money

Sitemap

  • Why subscribe?
  • Terms & Conditions
  • FAQs
  • Copyright & Intellectual Property Rights
  • Subscribe now

Newsletters

    Be the first to know latest important news & events directly to your inbox.

    Sending ...

    By signing up, I agree to our TOS and Privacy Policy.

    © 2022 LibyaHerald - Powered by Sparx Solutions.

    Welcome Back!

    Login to your account below

    Forgotten Password? Sign Up

    Create New Account!

    Fill the forms below to register

    *By registering into our website, you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.
    All fields are required. Log In

    Retrieve your password

    Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

    Log In
    No Result
    View All Result
    • Login
    • Sign Up
    • Libya
    • Business
    • Advertising
    • About us
    • BusinessEye Magazine
    • Letters
    • Features
    • Why subscribe?
    • FAQs
    • Contact

    © 2022 LibyaHerald - Powered by Sparx Solutions.

    This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.