35 terrorists found guilty of participating in fighting for the Islamic State organisation in Libya during the unrest that followed the overthrow of dictator Muammar Gaddafi were sentenced to death by a Libyan court on Monday.
320 suspected IS fighters were prosecuted and condemned in this first round.
IS established a foothold in Sirte on Libya’s central coast in 2015 before being forced out the following year by troops allied with the Government of National Accord, which at the time was based in Tripoli.
Following the trial that commenced in August 2017 in the western city of Misrata, thirteen further defendants were given life sentences.
The defendants were Libyan, Sudanese, and Palestinian. They were all convicted of murder and had been in custody since December 2016 as a result. There were some more who were exonerated, but it was unclear how many.
Additionally, according to attorney Lotfi Mohaychem, who represented the families of anti-IS soldiers killed in the struggle for Sirte, the court sentenced three juveniles to ten years in jail apiece.
The terrorists showed up in the dock with beards, shaved heads, and blue prison overalls. The courtroom was packed with the relatives of those who died in the battle of Sirte.
“As lawyers for the victims’ families, we see the verdict of the court as very satisfying and very just,” Mohaychem said. “The court sentenced those whose guilt was demonstrated and acquitted those against whom there was insufficient evidence.”
When the verdicts were read, cries of joy and applause filled the room along with shouts of, “God is greatest” and “The blood of the martyrs has not been spilled in vain.”
Mostafa Salem Trabelsi, who identified himself as the father of a missing child and the uncle of one of the victims, claimed to feel “relieved, despite the pain.”
Following the 2011 NATO-backed revolt that resulted in the overthrow and death of longstanding tyrant Gaddafi, Libya was engulfed in turmoil and anarchy for more than ten years.
Numerous militias and jihadist organisations seized the opportunity presented by the political vacuum. IS established bases in the eastern towns of Derna and Sirte before being forced out with the aid of US-led airstrikes.