Benghazi: Libya`s former prime minister Baghdadi al-Mahmudi will get a "fair trial" when he is extradited from Tunisia to face Libyan justice, interim leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil said on Thursday.
"First of all we will ensure a secure place for him, then we will guarantee a fair trial, despite the acts he has perpetrated against the Libyan people," said Abdel Jalil, chairman of Libya`s National Transitional Council.
Rights groups have expressed fears for Mahmudi`s safety if he is sent back to Libya from Tunisian captivity after ousted Libyan tyrant Muammar Gaddafi was felled by a bullet to the head when captured by NTC fighters last month.
Mahmudi, 70, was prime minister until the final days of the Gaddafi regime. He was arrested on September 21 on Tunisia`s southwestern border with Algeria and jailed for illegal entry.
A Tunisian appeals court this week gave the nod for his extradition to Libya.
Mahmudi`s lawyer Mabrouk Kourchid said in Tunis that his client fears for his life as the sole holder of Libyan state secrets since Gaddafi`s death on October 20.
During the extradition hearing in a Tunis court, dozens of Libyans rallied outside the building demanding the man they called the "third tyrant of Libya" -- after Gaddafi and his son Seif al-Islam -- be sent back to face justice in Libya.
PTI
