The life of Libyan citizen Hanin al-Abdali is in danger, after an armed group fired on and kidnapped her. Al-Abdali was wounded during the encounter.
Hanin is the daughter of lawyer Hanan al-Braasi, who was assassinated on 10 November last year, after she broadcast videos on social media criticizing Khalifa Haftar and his son, Saddam.
Activists have shared videos of Hanin al-Abdali’s brother, Ayman, announcing the kidnapping of his sister. “You kidnap girls? You have killed my mother, and have kidnapped my sister!”
Hanin al-Abdali had come to Libya from Egypt after the killing of her mother, under the protection of Mahmoud al-Werfalli, a commander in in Haftar’s militia, and settled in the eastern town of Benghazi.
Benghazi is currently witnessing a deterioration in the security situation, including abuses by Haftar-aligned forces, according to reports from local media and human-rights activists.
Last Wednesday (24 March) al-Werfalli was killed in Benghazi, according to pro-Haftar media reports. Warfali was sought by the International Criminal Court (ICC), after his 2017 indictment for war crimes.
Arab Organisation for Human Rights in the UK (AOHR UK) has condemned the killing of journalists and human-rights activists in Libya, and the deterioration of security and safety in Benghazi.
Hanin al-Abdali’s kidnapping occurred less than a month after the start of the UN-backed Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF), which aims to organise the holding of elections, and build the “democratic legitimacy of Libyan institutions”.
