 A
Libyan-born Danish citizen has been sentenced to 12 years in prison
for criticising the Libyan government and supporting democratic
reforms, Berlingske Tidende newspaper reports.
Jamal al-Haji was born and
raised in Libya but became a Danish citizen after marrying a Danish
woman. He went back to Libya in 2001 to work in the public sector
and subsequently began writing about the country’s internal
corruption and calling for government reforms.
Al-Haji and 13 other
activists were arrested prior to taking part in a planned peaceful
demonstration in Tripoli in February 2006 and charged with treason.
He has been in police custody since then.
According to rights
organisation Human Rights Watch, the sentence was handed down on
Monday by a special court housed within Tripoli’s Abu Salim prison.
The arrest of al-Haji and the other activists was strongly condemned
by the organisation and also Amnesty International, which has called
for the European Union to confront Libya over the matter.
Lars Thuesen, head of
citizen services at the Foreign Ministry, said his office has
repeatedly attempted to take up the case with the Libyan
authorities. He added that the EU has also tried three times to
intervene in the matter.
Human rights groups have
accused the EU of going too easy on Libya over the matter because of
the union’s current pursuit of a major political and economic
partnership with the country. But Foreign Minister Per Stig Mّller
has previously threatened to block that co-operation if Denmark was
not allowed to contact and provide assistance to al-Haji. (rc)
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