a Libyan court sentenced to death 35 jihadists accused of fighting with the Islamic State group in the North African country amid the chaos that followed the fall of dictator Moamer Kadhafi.
This was the first trial and sentencing of 320 suspected IS terrorists.
IS took control of the central coast city of Sirte in 2015, establishing a stronghold before being forced out the following year by forces loyal to the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord, which was in power then.
According to AFP journalists, thirteen additional defendants were sentenced to life in jail during the trial, which began last August in the western city of Misrata.
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The defendants were Palestinians, Sudanese, and Libyans. All had been in detention since December 2016 and had been convicted of terrorist group membership as well as murder.
Others were acquitted, but it was unclear how many.
According to lawyer Lotfi Mohaychem, who represented families of anti-IS militants killed in the struggle for Sirte, the court also sentenced three juveniles to ten years in prison.
The suspects entered the dock wearing blue prison overalls, beards, and shaved heads. The courtroom was packed with relatives of those murdered in the Sirte conflict.
Mostafa Salem Trabelsi, who identified as the uncle of one of the fatalities and the father of another who has gone missing, expressed relief "despite the pain."
Following the 2011 NATO-backed revolt that resulted in the overthrow and assassination of longstanding autocrat Moammar Gadhafi, Libya was thrown into more than a decade of instability and lawlessness.
Dozens of militias and jihadist groups exploited the power vacuum, with IS establishing bases in Sirte and the eastern town of Derna before being forced out by US-led air attacks.
