A Libyan journalist was kidnapped Monday, November 22 by a group of strangers in Benghazi, in the east of the country, according to the body in charge of the public media.
"
The General Press Authority deplores, in the strongest terms, the kidnapping on Monday of Siraj Abdelhafid al-Mogassbi, a journalist cooperating with the branch of this authority in Benghazi, by a group of strangers
", according to a press release from this organization, of which AFP has received a copy.
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"
A complaint was lodged with the police station of al-Madina and I contacted the prosecutor personally
" about it, declared to AFP Abderrazag al-Dahech, president of this Authority in charge of the press and the media. public media. According to the organization, the kidnappers entered the offices of the Libyan newspaper Al-Hayat, for which Siraj Abdelhafid al-Mogassbi works and which is in the Authority's premises, "
threatening and intimidating employees and journalists
". "
They refused to show an official summons or provide identity documents
" before taking Siraj Abdelhafid al-Mogassbi with them, it added in the statement.
The General Press Authority, which “
denounced
” this act “
in violation of the laws and legislations that protect the press and journalists
”, called on “
all the security services to act quickly to shed light on the fate (of their) colleague
”.
Libya, in chaos since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi's regime in 2011, is ranked 165th out of 180 countries in the 2021 world press freedom ranking published by Reporters Without Borders.
