The Russian, Ukrainian and Belarus nationals that are being kept in detention in Libya have asked the presidents of their countries to intervene in the situation.
One of the detainees, 59-year-old Russian Alexander Shadrov, told the BBC that neither he nor the other detainees expect their trial to be fair, while the efforts made by the Embassy of Russia in Libya are not enough to obtain their release. According to him, the embassy simply does not have enough power.
"Mister president, we are asking you to personally intervene with the issue of our release," the BBC quoted Shadrov as saying.
According to him, the detainees have sent the letter to Moscow and dictated its text to their relatives in Russia hoping that they will manage to pass it to the media.
Shadrov assumed that the uncertainty in their situation is connected with the upcoming elections in Libya scheduled for June.
"Probably, someone needs detained foreigners and a trial for them," he said.
It was reported earlier that the Libyan insurgent brigade Al Qa’qaa had captured Russian citizens Vladimir Dolgov and Alexander Shadrov along with several Ukrainian and Belarusian citizens (25 people in total) on August 27, 2011. All of these people have been accused of restoring military hardware the Gaddafi regime used "to exterminate the Libyan people."
These people were liberated due to efforts taken by the Russian Embassy in Tripoli on September 3, but they were apprehended once again on September 6 to investigate their possible involvement in the maintenance and modernization of tanks for Gaddafi forces.
The spokesman for the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine said that on May 7, the court held the 4th hearing of the case, at which the prosecutors and the defense team submitted new materials on the case to the court and expressed the need for an additional examination of these documents.
"In this connection, the next court hearing will be held on May 21," Dykusarov said.
Shadrov also told the BBC that representatives of the Russian Embassy did not attend the recent court hearing.
