Libya: UN, EU concerned by Haftar’s jailing of journalist

The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) has expressed its dissatisfaction with the decision of a military court in Benghazi which sentenced photojournalist, Ismail Bouzreiba Al-Zway, to 15 years in prison.

In a statement, UNSMIL said: “The mission is concerned that the detention and trial appear to violate Libya’s laws as well as its international obligations.”

The EU delegation called on “the authorities to release Al-Zway immediately and ensure respect for his fundamental rights and the right to freedom of expression.”

A military court in eastern Libya, which is governed by renegade General Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA), on Friday sentenced a local photojournalist to 15 years in prison on terrorism-related charges.

The 39-year-old was first detained by security agents while covering a local news event in his hometown of Ajdabiya, east Libya, in 2018, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. He was accused of working for Al-Nabaa, a privately owned Libyan news channel which broadcasts from Turkey that eastern Libyan authorities consider to be affiliated with Islamist “terrorism”.

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