리비아, 자국민 53명 살해 전직 IS 조직원 17명 사형 선고

리비아 법원이 이슬람 수니파 무장조직 IS의 전직 조직원 17명에 대해 사형을 선고했습니다.

리비아 검찰 고위 관계자는 어제(19일) 성명을 통해 사형이 선고된 사람들은 리비아 서부 도시 사브라타(Sabratha)에서 53명을 살해하고 공공재산을 파괴하는 데 가담해 유죄 판결을 받은 상태였다고 밝혔습니다.

이 관계자는 또 다른 16명의 무장대원은 징역형을 선고받았다며, 이 가운데 2명은 종신형에 처해졌다고 말했습니다.

리비아 법원 재판부는 형이 언제 집행될지는 구체적으로 밝히지 않았습니다.

리비아 내 IS는 지난 2011년 무아마르 가다피 당시 대통령이 축출된 지 3년 만에 시르테, 사브라타 등지로 세력을 넓혔습니다.

이후 2016년 말 주요 거점인 시르테에서 밀려났지만, 사브라타 주변 소도시 등지에서 제한적인 활동을 유지하고 있다고 `AP’ 통신은 전했습니다.

VOA 뉴스

*이 기사는 AP를 참조했습니다.

BENGHAZI, Libya (AP) — A Libyan court sentenced 17 former members of the Islamic State group to death, a statement from the country’s Tripoli-based top prosecutor said on Monday.
The death sentences were given out to those convicted of participating in the killing of 53 people in the western city of Sabratha and destruction of public property, according to the statement. Another 16 militants were given prison sentences, two of them for life. The court did not specify when the sentences would be carried out.
Libya remains split between two rival administrations after years of civil war. The divide between authorities in the capital of Tripoli and eastern Libya has led to widespread lawlessness. Militia groups have also accumulated vast wealth and power from kidnappings and their control over the country’s lucrative human trafficking trade.
The extremist group expanded their reach in Libya after the 2011 uprising that toppled and later killed longtime ruler Moammar Gadhafi. IS militants first seized Darna in 2014 and then later Sirte and areas surrounding the city of Sabratha.
However, unlike Syria and Iraq, IS was unable to profit from chaos and take large swathes of Libya. Instead, the group was limited to only administrative pockets dotted across the oil-rich North African country, unable to gain supremacy over Libya’s numerous well-armed militia forces tightly bound by tribal loyalties.
Several IS training camps were located outside Sabratha. In early 2016, some 700 of its fighters, most of who were Tunisian, were based in the area. In March 2016, affiliates of the group briefly took over the city’s security headquarters and beheaded 12 Libyan security officials before using the headless corpses to block nearby roads.
Sirte’s central Martyrs’ Square was transformed by IS into a stage for public extrajudicial killings — including beheadings by a sword — for a wide variety of offenses.
In April 2016, near the height of its power, the Libyan branch of the militant group had recruited around 6,000 fighters, U.S. military experts estimated.
IS was driven from its main stronghold, the coastal city of Sirte, in late 2016 and fled inland. However, the militants maintain a limited presence in small pockets of the country including the areas surrounding Sabratha.
In February 2016, the United States carried out an airstrike on an IS training camp near Sabratha, killing at least 40 people, as part of its effort to eradicate the Islamic State.