Prospects brighten for Swiss hostages in Libya

A glimmer of hope surfaced over the weekend for one of the two Swiss hostages held in Libya for more than 18 months.

Rachid Hamdani, 69, was cleared of wrongdoing in a Tripoli court on Sunday after being charged with illegal economic activity.

Libyan justice authorities have 30 days to appeal the case but his Libyan lawyer Saleh Zahaf said this is unlikely.

“This is a victory,” Zahaf told the Associated Press news agency.

But even as Hamdani’s prospects of returning to Switzerland brightened, the fate of the other hostage, Max Göldi, remained unclear.

On Saturday, Göldi, head of the ABB engineering firm’s Libyan branch, was fined 860 francs for the same charge of which Hamdani was acquitted.

And Göldi, 54, is still awaiting a response from an appeal of a conviction for visa violations that led to a 16-month jail sentence and a 1,600-franc fine.

The two businessmen were in the wrong place at the wrong time when a diplomatic dispute escalated following the Geneva arrest of Hannibal Gadaffi, the son of Libyan leader Muammar Gadaffi, and his wife in the summer of 2008.

The Gadaffis were arrested at the Hotel President Wilson after two domestic workers complained they had been assaulted.

The couple were detained for two days and allowed to depart for Libya after posting bail of more than 500,000 francs.

The servants later withdrew the allegations but the Libyan government responded to the affair by cutting diplomatic relations, which remained chilly even after then Swiss president Hans-Rudolf Merz issued a personal apology last August in Tripoli.

The two Swiss have been unable to leave Libya since July 19, 2008 when they were initially arrested.

Both men have spent time in prison, as observers believe the men are paying the price for the Gadaffis’ public “humiliation”.

The release to the Swiss media by Geneva police of photographs showing wounds allegedly received by the servants who complained of assault by the members of the ruling family did not help.

The photos were published by several Swiss newspapers, along with a mug shot taken of Hannibal Gaddafi.

Two Swiss detainees have paid the price, facing charges that Amnesty International says were trumped up for “political” reasons by Libyan authorities.

They are currently staying in the Swiss embassy in Tripoli but their movements have been severely restricted.

Hamdani, a manager for medium-sized Swiss company, was cleared on January 31 of a charge of illegally residing in Libya.

In theory, he should be now clear to leave the country.

“There is no reason for him to remain in Libya,” Daniel Graf, spokesman for Amnesty International in Zurich, told Swisster.

“We expect that he will get back his Swiss passport and receive a visa to allow him to leave,” Graf said.

He acknowledged that there have been setbacks before, “but the chances have never better of him coming back.”

Hamdani’s family and the Swiss foreign affairs department are declining to comment on the situation.

Graf said Göldi, meanwhile, is expected to be advised of the result of his appeal on Thursday.

Amnesty International believes he will also be cleared of wrongdoing.

The group is critical of the Libyan justice system in the case that led to Göldi’s prison sentence.

The Swiss man’s lawyer was denied the time to prepare for his defence and was unable to present his case properly before the court, Graf said.

In any case, a prison sentence for visa violations “is not appropriate,” he said.

The two cases have been clearly politically motivated, Graf said.

For many months the Swiss detainees were held without any charges, which is a violation of international and Libyan law, he added.

And the men also failed to benefit from fair legal procedures consistent with article 14 of the the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which was ratified by the Libyan government.

Amnesty International’s Swiss branch has mounted an Internet campaign to back the two hostages, which has led to the burning of 16,000 “virtual candles.”

More than 9,000 messages of support have been sent through the www.bougieenlibye.ch website to Tripoli and thousands of post cards have also directed to the detainees, the group said.

“Many of these personal messages have comforted us and helped us not to lose hope,” Göldi wrote in an email sent to Amnesty International.