With the spread of the news on the assassination of lawyer and political activist Abdelsalam al-Mismari on July 26, demonstrations swept the country, condemning the first political assassination in Libya since the revolution that toppled Muammar Gadaffi in 2011. Al-Mismari was shot dead in Benghazi as he left the mosque in al-Baraka where he lives, after Friday prayers.

With the spread of the news on the assassination of lawyer and political activist Abdelsalam al-Mismari on July 26, demonstrations swept the country, condemning the first political assassination in Libya since the revolution that toppled Muammar Gadaffi in 2011. Al-Mismari was shot dead in Benghazi as he left the mosque in al-Baraka where he lives, after Friday prayers.

Most Libyan cities participated in the protests. In Benghazi, Tripoli, al-Marj, al-Baydaa, Darna, al-Zawiya, Gharyan, Zintan and other cities, there were major demonstrations protesting Mismari’s murder.

At all demonstrations offices of the Justice and Construction Party, the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood, were stormed.  All parties accused the Muslim Brotherhood of the assassination of al-Mismari, who was a strong opponent of the Muslim Brotherhood and he openly criticized them in all his televised interviews and press statements.   

The accompanying slide show shows the Tripoli youth who gathered at dawn on Saturday, July 27, 2013 at Maydan ash-Shuhada (Martyrs’ Square). The demonstrations continued until the early morning hours demanding investigations into the crime and the dissolution of political parties until a new political party law is enacted in order to re-establish these parties on a proper basis. There were also other demands which emerged with every new incident such as the disbanding of armed groups and the establishment of a national army and police to protect Libya from the prevailing security chaos that pervades the country.