Former Libyan prime minister to be tried

Libya's former prime minister will be put on trial for crimes he allegedly committed during the rule of Muammar Gaddafi.

Monday, November 12, 2012
Al-Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi

Libya's former prime minister will be put on trial for crimes he allegedly committed during the rule of Muammar Gaddafi.Al-Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi was extradited from Tunisia, which he fled to in September 2011 after the fall of Tripoli to rebel forces."Al-Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi will appear tomorrow [Monday] on the occasion of a first case" against him, Taha Baara, the public prosecutor's spokesman, said in Tripoli on Sunday, adding that Mahmoudi faces charges of "prejudicial acts against the security of the state".Baara said on Sunday that al-Mahmoudi is facing charges regarding his role in a number of cases during the civil war, as well as undermining the country's security.Rights groups objected to his extradition on June 24, saying that he could face the death penalty and in July, Mahmoudi protested his innocence from his prison cell in the Libyan."I am not guilty, not guilty, not guilty," he said during a visit to the prison organised by the authorities in an apparent bid to quash rumours he had been tortured."I am ready to be tried by the Libyan people. I am sure of myself and of my innocence," he said at the time. Along with Saif al-Islam, Gaddafi's most prominent son, Mahmoudi is one of the few remaining keepers of the many state secrets under Gaddafi, who was killed on October 20 last year.