NICOSIA (AFP) – Human rights watchdog Amnesty International on Tuesday questioned Libya's detention of a cyber-activist for an alleged driving offence saying it had evidence the arrest was politically motivated.
Jamal al-Hajji, who has joint Libyan and Danish citizenship and has spent time in prison in the past for his criticism of the Tripoli regime, was detained on February 1 for an alleged hit-and-run accident, which he denies.
His arrest came shortly after he made a call on the Internet for demonstrations to be held in support of greater freedoms in Libya, mirroring the protests that have swept the Arab world since the overthrow last month of veteran Tunisian strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
"Two particular aspects of the case lead us to believe that the alleged car incident was not the real reason for Jamal al-Hajji?s arrest, but merely a pretext to conceal what was really a politically motivated arrest," Amnesty?s Middle East and North Africa director Malcolm Smart said.
"First, eyewitnesses have reported that the man who is said to have complained of being struck by Jamal al-Hajji?s car showed no visible signs of injury," Smart said in a statement.
"Secondly, the officers who conducted the arrest were in plain clothes, indicating that they were not the ordinary police, who generally would be expected to handle car accidents, but members of the Internal Security Agency.
"It is the ISA that usually carries out arrests of political suspects and they wear plain clothes."
"The Libyan authorities must clarify the legal status of Jamal al-Hajji," Smart said.
"They must release him immediately and without conditions if the real reason for his continuing detention is his peaceful exercise of the right to freedom of expression, in which case he is a prisoner of conscience."
In recent days, Facebook groups numbering several hundred members have been calling for demonstrations to mark a "day of rage" in Libya on February 17 modelled on similar protests in other Arab countries.
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