Belarusians in Libya sentenced to 10 years for assisting Gaddafi

Arrested in Libya Belarusians were sentenced on June 4 to ten years in prison. Russian, who is charged with coordinating the group - to life imprisonment. Other defendants were sentenced to ten years imprisonment with labor, according to Agence France-Presse.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus confirmed media reports.

As it was reported earlier, the trial of three Belarusians, two Russians and 19 Ukrainians, who are accused of involvement in military operations on the side of the deposed Muammar Gaddafi, has begun on April 9. Foreign Ministry of Belarus said, the accusation against Belarusian citizens do not correspond to reality. According to the Foreign Affairs, Belarusians arrived in Libya on contract to work on civilian targets and were arrested along with the citizens of Russia and Ukraine in August 2011, immediately after crossing the border.

Earlier in the foreign press reports were appearing, which cited sources in the Transitional National Council of Libya, that among the foreign mercenaries fighting on the side of Gaddafi, were the Belarusian citizens. Official Minsk denied information on presence in Libya the military experts from Belarus. However, independent experts do not rule out that mercenaries from Belarus, including former military experts, could be in Libya in private.

On May 22 at a press conference in Minsk the head of consular department of Foreign Ministry of Belarus Alexander Ostrovsky said that in Libya four citizens of Belarus were detained by various militias, the trial awaits three of them. One Belarusian citizen was detained along with the Ukrainians, three of them - with the citizens of Russia. "The detention conditions of the Belarusian citizens aren't good", said Ostrovsky. They live in a gym and cafeteria, where at the beginning of hot period air-conditioners were installed.