Amnesty campaign gives hope to Libyan hostages

Bruna Hamdani, wife of one of the Swiss detainees in Libya, said a solidarity campaign launched by the Swiss branch of Amnesty International is providing her husband and family with hope.

“I spoke to my husband [last Thursday] and he was deeply touched to discover that people are sending messages," she told Swisster.

On Friday afternoon, Hamdani joined volunteers from the charity to distribute free postcards outside Geneva train station.

Others will did the same at the main station in Bern.

The cards featured images of two lit candles with the words: “See you soon in Switzerland” in German and French.

A message of support in both languages and the address of the Swiss embassy in Tripoli is printed on the other side. Supporters need only affix a stamp and post the card.

“This is a great way to keep up the spirits of the two men, and it is working," said Hamdani.

Her husband and Max Göldi have been held hostage for more than 500 days in Libya in a tit-for-tat retaliation for the arrest of Hannibal Gadaffi and his wife at a Geneva hotel in July 2008.

The Gadaffis were detained after two domestic workers complained of being assaulted, although they later withdrew the allegations.

The Gadaffis were returned to Libya and Hans-Rudolf Merz, then Swiss President, issued an apology for the arrest.

But this has not helped Rachid Hamdani and Max Göldi. A Libyan court last week sentenced the men to 16 months in prison for allegedly violating immigration regulations.

A website launched by Amnesty International allows well-wishers to send messages of solidarity to the detainees via email, Facebook and Twitter.

The two men are currently in the Swiss Embassy and have access to Internet. Within less than two days they had received 2,800 “candles” or messages in German, French and Italian.

The Swiss pair could face further charges of tax evasion and failure to comply with business regulations.

They continue to claim their innocence. “Since the beginning he feels he is being wrongly accused”, Hamdani's wife said of her husband.

She said she is in contact with him by phone or email every day.

“When I speak to Rachid I am speaking to a man who is shaken and demoralised," she said.

Rachid Hamdani was originally scheduled to remain in Libya for just  four or five days, she said.

He legally entered Libya on a Tunisian passport (he is naturalised Swiss). The two men are to appeal against the conviction through their Libyan lawyer.

The solidarity campaign in Switzerland was due to be launched on December 1 to mark 500 days of detention.

It was delayed after the Swiss people voted last Sunday to stop the building of minarets, Hamdani said.

Libya has since condemned Switzerland’s decision to ban the building of mosque towers and has appealed to the UN, urging it to relocate its European headquarters from Geneva to another city.

Hamdani said she was unsure as to whether the minaret ban would affect the release of the two men.

“It is not possible to predict what might happen and I don’t want to succumb to despair," she said.

“This situation has got worse and worse but we must have hope in this appeal," she added.

So far Amnesty has printed 60,000 cards, which are also available on the website set up for the Swiss men.

Distribution of the cards will form part of the organization’s global letter-writing “marathon” campaign later this month, when messages are sent out to victims of human rights abuse around the world.