Rebels in Libya Continue to Persecute Citizens From Former European Socialist States

Counter-revolutionaries in Libya are continuing to illegally hold people from Ukraine and other former socialist states in Europe who are accused of supporting the government of Col. Muammar Gaddafi. The rebels have held thousands inside their prisons., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

Eastern Europeans on trial in Occupied Libya

Earlier this month, Libya's rebel Supreme Military Court reviewed an appeal by 19 Ukrainians, three Belarusians, and two Russians who stand accused of aiding the government of Muammar Qaddafi by helping his forces to maintain military equipment during the counter-revolution that was enabled by the Pentagon and NATO.

The defendants maintain that they are engineers who were working for an oil company and were not politically motivated to assist the Qaddafi government.

The group was arrested on August 27, 2011, just after Tripoli was seized by counter-revolutionary militias but the circumstances that led to their arrest are not clear. In March 2012, three of the Ukrainians were cleared by the Libyan rebels and sent home due to efforts and negotiations of Ukrainian diplomats, while the rest remained in detention. In June 2012, the Tripoli Military Court sentenced the remaining Ukrainians, Russians, and Belarusians to ten years of imprisonment. One of the Russians was sentenced for life.

During the U.S. and NATO massive bombing of the country, Jamahiriya was falsely accused of hiring foreigners, mainly from neighboring African countries, to help his troops defeat a imperialist-backed counter-revolution.

It produced a western-inspired backlash against foreigners in Libya by the counter-revolutionaries during the U.S.-NATO bombing which led to the arrest of thousands of foreign nationals.

Occupied Libya's current relationship with Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus is anything but friendly. Many reactionaries in Libya hold the view that these countries supported Qaddafi during the counter-revolution and that their relations with them should remain distant.

Russia repeatedly criticized the international NATO-led military operation in Libya following the U.N. resolution on "targeted measures" to protect civilians. Russia then abstained during the Security Council vote and did not veto the resolution.

Indeed, Qaddafi had a good relationship with Russian and some Eastern European leaders. When Qaddafi's Libya was being bombed and blockaded, the Belarus' leader, Alexander Lukashenko, stood by him until the end: There were even reports that his government supported Qaddafi with arms and fighting forces.

Then there was the very strong connection between Qaddafi and his Ukrainian nurse, who was described as one of his closest confidantes. It's said that Qaddafi never traveled anywhere without her by his side.

Despite Libyan rebel control that is backed by the imperialist nations, the rebel regime has made it clear that it will work to normalize relations with all nations regardless of their position during the counter-revolution (and especially concerning Russia).

During a press conference, Prime Minister Ali Zeidan emphasized the historical and strategic reasons for his government to have a good working relationship with Moscow. Russia was Libya's main weapons supplier before the counter-revolution, and the new rebel authorities are currently using many of the same weapons to equip security units. In addition, occupied Libya cannot afford to be enemies with a powerful state, especially when it is seeking to lift the arms embargo imposed on the country by the U.N. Security Council.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has been assisting the detained Ukrainians throughout the trial, and continues to maintain their innocence. If the convictions against them are upheld, Ukraine will seek to have them repatriated to serve out their sentences. The Russian Foreign Ministry has called the sentences "unfair and unjustifiably harsh," and is urging the Libyan authorities to release its citizens and allow their return home.

Earlier this week, Libya's rebel General National Congress (the country's interim legislature) made an amendment to the Military Penal Code, banning military courts from trying civilians and ordering that all ongoing military trials involving civilians be halted. The amendment also emphasized that cases involving both civilians and military personnel would fall under the jurisdiction of the public prosecutor, not the military. (In this case the public prosecutor has preference over the military prosecutor.)

This amendment could halt the appeal process for the defendants, and instead they may face a new trial in a civilian court.

This trial is only one episode of the many challenges that post-Qaddafi Libya will face with the once-friendly governments in Eastern Europe, especially since Russia and Ukraine are trying to safeguard business deals that were signed with the Qaddafi's government. (These include long-term arms deals as well as agreements with Russian oil and construction companies.)

Rebels in Libya are currently reviewing all of the former government's major contracts. If these reactionaries feel that the contracts signed with the Russian and Eastern European companies were based more on political relations with the loyalist government than on imperialist relations, the contracts could be cancelled, complicating Libya's rebels future relations with the countries concerned.