A Jewish engineer has been imprisoned in Libya for two-and-a-half years without trial, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency was informed today by Amnesty International, a private organization active on behalf of political prisoners. A spokesman for the organization said it has been trying without success to obtain the release of Gulio Hassan, 31, who was arrested in Tripoli in Sept. 1969 following a military coup in Libya. The coup overthrew the regime of King Idris and installed a military junta headed by Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi.
Hassan was arrested at his home at a time when xenophobic and anti-Israel passions were at a height. The police claimed they were detaining him for his own protection. A week later Hassan called friends to tell them he was being held at Bab Ben Gashir prison. His family has had no news of him since then, Amnesty International reported.
No charges have been brought against Hassan, but the organization learned that he has been interrogated to find out if he ever visited Israel and whether he possessed a radio transmitter-receiver. Amnesty International said its secretary general intervened personally with the Libyan Ambassador in London but could learn nothing more. Hassan’s wife and two children left Tripoli in Sept. 1970 because of attacks and insults by their neighbors, the organization reported.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
