Libya

October 2008 | Ratings Update

In mid-October, Libya released a high-profile political dissident, jailed in 2007 for trying to hold a demonstration in Tripoli. Idris Boufayed was charged with attempting to overthrow the government and sentenced to 25 years in jail. However, he has now been released following the intervention of the Qadhafi International Foundation, run by Seif al-Islam Qadhafi, the son of the Libyan leader. Human rights groups have claimed that Boufayed was released due to official fears that he would die in hospital, after being diagnosed with lung cancer, an outcome that could have been politically damaging for the Qadhafi regime.

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