AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
PUBLIC STATEMENT
Date: 09 October 2008
Libya: Prisoner of Conscience
Idriss Boufayed Released
Amnesty International welcomes
the release by the Libyan authorities of Libyan Prisoner of Conscience
Idriss Boufayed on 8 October 2008, but stresses that it must be
unconditional and that he should be allowed to travel abroad for medical
treatment if he wishes.
Idriss Boufayed was arrested on
16 February 2007, the day before a peaceful demonstration he had attempted
to organize was scheduled to take place. He was detained incommunicado
until 24 June 2007, when he was brought before a court and charged with
"attempting to overthrow the political system" and "communication with
enemy powers." On 10 June 2008, Idriss Boufayed was sentenced to 25 years
imprisonment by the State Security Court in a hearing which did not meet
standards for fair trial.
Idriss Boufayed was released on
humanitarian grounds after being diagnosed with
lung cancer in May
2008. There have been concerns that he was not receiving appropriate
medical treatment and that he would need to travel abroad for treatment
which is not available in Libya.
The organization remains
seriously concerned that Abdelrahman Al Qateewy, who has not been heard of
since February 2008 remains disappeared.
Amnesty International is also
concerned about the continued detention of the ten other men involved in
organizing the demonstration since it considers them to be
prisoners of conscience
who have been sentenced solely for the peaceful exercise of their rights
to freedom of expression and assembly. Jamal el-Haji was sentenced to 12
years imprisonment, while Ahmed Youssef al-Obaidi and the brothers
al-Mahdi Saleh Hmeed,
Faraj Saleh Hmeed, and al-Sadeq Saleh Hmeed were sentenced to 15 years
imprisonment. Farid Mohammed al-Zwai,
Alaa al-Drissi and
Bashir Qasem al-Hares were sentenced to six years imprisonment each, Ali
Saleh Hmeed to six and a half years and al-Sadiq Qeshoot to seven years
imprisonment.
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