News© WikiMedia (Al Jazeera English)
A Libyan appeals court on Wednesday sentenced [text, in Arabic] 45 soldiers to death by firing squad for their involvement in murders that occurred during the 2011 uprising.
The defendants were accused of opening fire [Telegraph report] on a crowd of demonstrators calling for the end of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime in the Abu Salim district of Tripoli, the nation’s capital.
An additional 54 people were handed [Al Jazeera report] five-year prison sentences, and 22 of the soldiers were acquitted.
According to the Ministry of Justice, the president, members of the court and victims were present at the sentencing.
These are the first [BBC report] death sentences given by the Tripoli Court of Appeals since 2015.
A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that the demonstrators were celebrating the end of Gaddafi's regime and that this was the first death sentence handed down by the appeals court.
