Libya executes eight after military 'spy' trial
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Tunis (Reuters) - Libya yesterday executed six senior officers and two civilians sentenced to death by a military court for spying using equipment supplied by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Libyan state-run radio reported.
The six officers were executed by a firing squad while the two civilians were hanged, the radio said. A Libyan official contacted by telephone said that the sentence had been issued by the Supreme Military Court on Wednesday.
The radio station, monitored in Tunis, said earlier that the men were convicted of belonging to "a banned organisation linked to agents of foreign governments", and of passing defence secrets to foreign states.
It did not name the governments but said that the convicted men used CIA-supplied equipment and implied they were spying for the Inited States.
In Washington, US officials dismissed the trial as a propaganda ploy. "This is not a new case and the proceedings have a show-trial flavour," one official said. "They look like a propaganda ploy for internal consumption."
The CIA declined comment.
A Tripoli-based diplomat said: "The report is the first public admission of opposition within the military to the rule of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi."
Libya's state-run television on Wednesday night broadcast footage of the trial room.
A prosecutor was seen to tell the men: "Have you forgotten or are you just playing down what those who recruited you as spies, have done to us? They killed our children - raided our families as they were sleeping." He was apparently referring to the US bombing of Tripoli and Benghazi in 1986.
Six other officers and two civilians were acquitted by the court, showing that the "revolution is able to be clement when there is lack of evidence", the radio said.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments