The appeal verdict for Max Göldi, the Swiss businessman sentenced to16 months in prison in Libya, has been postponed by one week.
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The court in Tripoli will now give its verdict on February 11, according to Daniel Graf from the Swiss branch of human rights organisation Amnesty International, who said he didn’t know the reason for the delay.
Göldi’s Libyan lawyer Salah Zahaf confirmed the news.
On Sunday fellow businessman Rachid Hamdani was cleared of the same charges.
Göldi and Hamdani have been prohibited from leaving Libya since July 19, 2008 after being charged and subsequently convicted of visa violations and carrying out illegal business activities.
The two were arrested amid a diplomatic spat between Switzerland and Libya following the arrest of one of Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi’s sons in a Geneva hotel in July 2008.
They were released later that month. They eventually took refuge in the Swiss embassy. In mid-September, 2009 they left the compound for medical tests and were taken by the Libyan authorities to an undisclosed location in Tripoli – something Bern called a “kidnapping”.
The two Swiss were returned to the embassy on November 9.
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Businessmen attend Libyan appeal hearings
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Max Göldi and Rachid Hamdani went before the court on Saturday and Sunday respectively, before returning to the Swiss embassy. The judge announced he would issue a verdict on Göldi’s appeal in March. A date has not been given in Hamdani’s case. The pair were convicted of visa violations and carrying out illegal business activities…
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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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If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.