The trial in Libya of a second Swiss businessman accused of conducting “illegal economic activities” was postponed on Sunday when the accused failed to appear.
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Rachid Hamdani, like fellow-countryman Max Göldi on Saturday, refused to leave the Swiss embassy in Tripoli, where the two men have been living for several months.
The men’s lawyer, Salah Zahaf, said Hamdani’s trial was now scheduled for January 31. Göldi’s is due to take place the day before.
The two have already been sentenced to 16 months in jail and a fine of $1,500 each (SFr 1,540) for visa irregularities and tax evasion. Their appeals against the verdict have been postponed twice because the court is demanding that they turn up in person for the hearings.
The men are unwilling to leave the embassy for fear of being detained.
They have been prevented from leaving Libya since July 2008, shortly after Geneva police arrested Hannibal Gaddafi, a son of Libyan ruler Moammar Gaddafi, and his wife on charges they abused their domestic staff at a city hotel. The servants later received compensation and withdrew the charges.
Libya insists that there is no connection between the detention of the businessmen and the Hannibal affair.
Meanwhile, the Swiss foreign minister, Micheline Calmy-Rey, has renewed her criticism of Tripoli.
“What Libya is doing to our two fellow-citizens is quite unacceptable,” she said in an interview published in two Swiss newspapers on Sunday.
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Swiss mull new Libya hostage strategy
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After a 60-day deadline for normalising relations between both countries ran out last week, the Swiss government’s new strategy for securing the release of two Swiss businessmen from Libya remains cloaked in mystery. Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey has accused Libya of “kidnapping” the two men, who have been prevented from leaving Tripoli for some…
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Rachid Hamdani and Max Göldi have been held in Libya since July 2008 after the arrest in Geneva of a son of Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi on charges, later dropped, of mistreating two domestic employees The Swiss foreign ministry confirmed the sentences on Tuesday evening and said the men were tried in absentia and were…
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Max Göldi and Rachid Hamdani are scheduled in early January to be tried for a second time in Libyan court, this time over business and tax violations. One thing is already evident: the Libyans have ignored their own laws handling the case. “The rules for a fair trial are very clear,” said Daniel Graf, a…
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On September 1, 1969, a small group of military officers led by then 27-year-old army officer Moammar Gaddafi overthrew Libya’s King Idris’ government. The revolutionary officers abolished the monarchy, and proclaimed the new republic. Gaddafi is to this day, referred to as the “Brother Leader and Guide of the Revolution” in government statements and the…
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