Four freed Libyan businessmen back home from UAE

Four Libyan businessmen have returned home after being released from by the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

“The freed businessmen arrived in Libya Saturday night from Turkey after being transferred there from the UAE, where they were detained since September without charge,” Abdullah Hamouda, a spokesman for families of Libyan detainees in the UAE, told reporters.

He said that five Libyans are still being held in the UAE without charges.

Hamouda said that families of the remaining detainees were seeking through several legal and diplomatic channels to find out the reason for their detention.

There has been no comment from Libyan and Emirati authorities on the report.

In September, Emirati authorities detained several Libyan businessmen residing in the UAE without providing reasons for their detention.

A coalition of five NGOs had earlier called on Emirati authorities to “immediately release the detained Libyans due to the absence of legal justification for their detention, and to allow their families to visit them.”

“We’re following with deep concern the campaign arbitrary arrests launched by the Emirati security authorities against Libyan businessmen who are legal residents in the UAE,” the NGO coalition said in a statement.