Russia to send working group for contacts with Russians convicted in Libya

Russia will shortly send an interdepartmental working group to Libya for contacts on the case of Russian nationals Alexander Shadrov and Vladimir Dolgov convicted in Lybia, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich told reporters on Friday. “The Foreign Ministry will continue focused effort,” seeking the return of the Russian nationals, the spokesman said. Diplomats visit the Russians on a regular basis and supply them with medicines, food and articles of daily necessity. At present , the case of Shadrov and Dolgov, convicted in Libya for assistance to Gaddafi’s regime, has been referred to a civil court for review. The verdict on Shadrov and Dolgov, handed down by Libya's high military tribunal, has been annulled, head of the consulate department of the Russian Embassy in Libya Denis Knyshev told Itar-Tass on Wednesday. "Today, the High Military Tribunal of Libya passed a ruling on the appeal, according to which the Russians' case was handed over for review by a civil court. The previous verdict has been annulled," Knyshev said. The country's prosecutor general's office will decide if it should change the charges brought by military prosecutors. "The status of the Russian citizens has changed from convicts to detainees," the Russian diplomat said. In June 2012, the High Military Tribune found a group of Belarussian, Russian and Ukrainian nationals guilty of assistance to Gaddafi’s regime and attempted murder through reparing military hardware used by the government troops against the opposition. Shadrov, declared the organizer of the group, was sentenced to life imprisonment. Dolgov, as well as three Belarusian nationals and 19 Ukrainians were sentenced to ten years in prison.