Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Legal News Blogs -> Legal Blog Watch

Legal News

: Legal Blog Watch

Judges, Lawyers Join Protests in Libya

By Brendan McKenna

Members of Libya's legal community have joined the demonstrations in Tripoli. A witness told The Associated Press on Monday that security forces have surrounded a courthouse where about 200 lawyers and judges have been staging a sit-in to protest against repression. CNN reports that Libya's justice minister has resigned in protest of the "bloody situation" and the excessive force being used against demonstrators, according to Libya's Quryna newspaper, which has been pro-government but has begun to cover the country's unrest in detail. Also Monday, Libya's deputy ambassador to the United Nations called on Moammar Gadhafi to step down, and urged the International Criminal Court to investigate the "crimes against humanity committed by Gadhafi against the Libyan people," according to The Associated Press. Amid multiple reports that Libya has begun using military planes to attack demonstrators, Malta's government officials said Monday that two Libyan Air Force pilots have defected and flown to Malta after reportedly being ordered to bomb protesters. Also Monday, a Libyan lawyer told Reuters that members of an elite army unit known as "The Thunderbolt" had "joined the people's revolt" and overtaken an opposing force belonging to the separate Republican, or Praetorian, Guard. And according to the Financial...

Full post as published by Legal Blog Watch on February 21, 2011 (boomark / email).