Libya trial for 20 Ukrainians accusing of helping Gaddafi

Twenty Ukrainian citizens accused of being mercenaries for the regime of Moamer Gaddafi appeared on Monday before a military court in the Libyan capital, an army spokesman said.

"They are accused of preparing land-to-air missile launchers to target Nato aircraft carrying out a UN-mandated mission to protect civilians," during the 2011 conflict, Colonel Ali Al-Sheiki told AFP.

"Other charges directed against them relate to helping the ousted regime put down the revolution and attack civilians through their work (as mercenaries) for Gaddafi and his brigades," he added.

He said that initial investigations, based on the confessions of the accused, revealed that they had come to Libya without the knowledge or the support of their countries.

"They are being considered as mercenaries of the former regime until we can prove otherwise," Sheiki said, ahead of the second hearing on the case this month.

Two citizens of Russia and another two from Belarus are being tried along with the Ukrainians, he said.

The defendants have rejected the charges against them and said they had come to Libya "to work in the oil sector," Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesman Oleksandr Dikusarov said after a closed hearing on April 5.

Ukraine had close economic links with the deposed regime and when the conflict between Gaddafi and the rebels erupted in mid-February it had 1,500 citizens in the country, according to official estimates.

Among these were mainly medical personnel, including women working as personal nurses for Gaddafi himself.
 
 

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