Public Prosecution: Imprisonment of a member of a gang that detains illegal immigrants in Zuwara.

Tripoli, March 16, 2024 (LANA) - The Public Prosecutor’s Office announced today, Saturday, that the investigating authority had ordered the imprisonment of a member of a gang whose members deliberately detained the freedom of two illegal immigrants, in order to force their families to pay sums of money in exchange for their release.

The office stated that officers of the Directorate Support Force Office, in the city of Zuwara, arrested an accused red-handed for the crime of detaining the freedom of two Syrian immigrants while transporting them on the public road.

   The office explained that the Deputy Public Prosecutor, in the Public Prosecutor’s Office, addressed the circumstances surrounding the arrest procedure. It was inferred that the arrested person was involved in a gang formation that specializes in organizing the smuggling of illegal immigrants across land and sea, and human trafficking.

He added that the formation deliberately coordinated illegal immigration operations that crossed national borders, through an organization that included thirty individuals who were linked - in their criminal project - with other networks that contributed to them in neighboring countries.

   The Public Prosecutor’s Office confirmed that the procedures resulted in proving that the arrested person committed the crime of kidnapping fourteen expatriates on whom he inflicted methods of torture and cruel, degrading and inhuman treatment for the purpose of forcing their families - under the pressure of watching video recordings documenting scenes of torture - to pay a ransom.

    The office indicated that the investigator ended up ordering the accused to be imprisoned. He decided to pursue the rest of the organization's members.

....(LANA) .....