Men in Libya who are alleged to be members of the Islamic State group were put on trial on Monday. In a Misrata courtroom, more than 50 inmates in blue jumpsuits sat behind bars as armed guards watched over them.
They are charged with carrying out murders and belonging to a terrorist group.
According to Lotfi Muhaishem, an attorney for the victims and their families, “the purpose of these hearings and representing the families of the martyrs and the wounded is to give evidence against each accused so that the trial is fair and not subject to appeal.”
In order to establish itself in Libya in 2014, Islamic State took advantage of the chaos that followed Muammar Gaddafi’s assassination. The group took control of the coastal city of Sirte in 2015, but after fierce fighting between the jihadists and Misrata forces, it lost it in 2016.
Fatima al-Tlisi, mother of an IS group victim, declared, “We, the families of the martyred and wounded, the people of Misrata and the citizens of Libya, want the death penalty for these members of the IS group.”
Even though the organization was vanquished in Libya, some analysts are worried that it might resurface in the south of the nation where its members have set up fatal ambushes against security personnel.
Security forces have been unable to concentrate on thwarting terrorist threats because of the power conflicts in Tripoli.
