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By Jamie Prentis.
Tunis, 1 June 2017:
The Dutch foreign ministry has said that Yvonne Snijter, who disappeared last Friday, was arrested by Libyan authorities for photographing a Tripoli riot.
“We can confirm that Yvonne has been detained since Friday by the Libyan authorities, because she was taking photos and making videos of nearby riots. We hope they will let us visit her as soon as possible,” Daphne Kerremans, a spokesman at the Dutch foreign ministry, told the Libya Herald.
“The embassy immediately asked the authorities for an explanation and permission to visit,” the foreign ministry said on its Twitter page.
The term ‘authorities’ has yet to be determined and it is unclear if this is referring to the UN-backed government and the forces under its command.
Social media has been alight with concern over her welfare and claims that Snijter had been released – rumours now proven to be false.
On the day of her arrest Snijter said she was planning to head to a conflict area in Tripoli to drink tea and read a book in protest at the fighting ravaging the capital.
She was last seen at 9.30pm on Friday at the Café Roma in Tripoli’s old town. At 11.30pm someone used her phone to call a number in her contacts to ask who Yvonne Snitjer was.
She has lived in Tripoli for two years and founded the educational Eureka Centre.
The Dutch mission to Libya, currently based in Tunis, has directed all enquires about Snitjer to The Hague.
