Idris Traina, 62, fled Libya nearly 40 years ago after Moammar Khaddafy's regime jailed and tortured him for three months for helping organize a student discussion on democracy in 1973.
"They asked us to just crawl on the ground and they were hitting us by whatever they have. Sticks and things like that," said Traina.
He was one of the lucky ones, Traina said. His uncle knew an officer who got him released, but his friends served years in jail without trial and had no contact with the outside.
After his release, Traina came to Southern California and raised his family, including three sons. Two of them returned to Libya to join the revolution.
They've sent photos and videos home through Facebook. Documenting their continuation of the work their father started in his youth.
Mallick Traina called from Sirte early Thursday morning to tell his father Khaddafy had been killed. He sad he would have preferred if Khaddafy had been captured alive and put on trial after he saw a graphic video of the Libyan leader's final moments.
"I don't like that to happen to any human being. Not any animal or anything," says Traina. "That part of it isn't me. I say this should not happen, but the other hand, I remember all the suffering that he has inflicted on people.”
Traina says he's grateful that NATO stepped in to help his sons and the other freedom fighters secure a better future for Libya.
"There is a way that the west and the Muslim world can work together, and we have a good example."
No comments:
Post a Comment