Libya releases 24 detained foreigners

Twenty-four Russians and Ukrainians arrested in Libya in 2011 on charges of aiding Libya's former leader Muammar Gaddafi have been released, a Libyan attorney, said Tuesday.

"I have contacted with the Consul of Ukraine and he told me the 24 Russians and Ukrainian defendants have been released and have arrived in their home countries. He did not reveal the date of the release or the method of their departure from Libya especially since they are undergoing criminal trial sessions," Abdulmen Masoud told Xinhua.

Russian daily Kommersant reported that Vladimir Dolgov, one of the Russian detainees, confirmed that he was released and along with all other defendants.

The 24 defendants were arrested in capital Tripoli by an armed group of Zintan rebels in August 2011, when Gaddafi forces fled the city.

The detainees include two Russians, 19 Ukrainians and three from the Republic of Belarus, who have previously appeared in a Libyan military court.

The military court announced in June 2012 a maximum of life imprisonment against one of the Russian defendants as a coordinator for the group, and ten years of imprisonment with labour against the rest of the defendants on charges of maintaining rocket launchers of the Gaddafi regime during the uprising 2011.

Immediately after the verdict was announced, governments of the defendants requested the Libyan authorities to start a retrial in a civil court, which was approved by Libya.