Following are excerpts
from an interview with Libyan TV host Hala Al-Masrati, which aired on
Al-Libiya TV on February 27, 2011:
Hala Al-Masrati:
Some journalists here in Libya conspired against me. I can say this
because our media enjoys transparency and freedom. Consequently, I was
subjected to torture and electric shocks, my passport was ripped up,
and I was accused of incitement to civil strife in Libya. At present,
I am a citizen without an identity card.
All this happened merely
because I was talking about the man on the street, and about the mounting
pressure among the Libyan public, saying that this pressure was being
exploited. As a result, I was accused of treason, and of incitement
of the public.
Today, I hold no grudge
against my interrogators, because they acted out of patriotism. They
had reports, and they had to act on the basis of these reports. They
had my articles and my writings, in which, for instance, I addressed
the writers and journalists, and told them that if they wished to criticize
the leader [Al-Qadhafi] or Seif Al-Islam, they should sign their names
to it. They should speak out from within Libya, and criticize the Leader.
The Leader is the father
of all the Libyans, even though he is above criticism. We should not
regard this individual as a regular person or intellectual. The Leader
is a human, cultural, and ideological enterprise, whose achievements
we must bear in mind.
[...]
We do not have transparent
newspapers and we have no media outlets that accept dissenting opinions.
We, the youth, have our views, and we are looking for a way to make
our voice heard. We don't get this opportunity.
Consequently, [the youth]
turn to the opposition. These [opposition] websites try to poison their
minds, and to establish the following notion in their minds: Oh Libyan
youth, you will have no future unless you change the regime.
[...]
They told them that our
father, Al-Qadhafi, and his sons would try to appease the Libyan public,
but that once these tribulations were over, they would arrest you, hang
you, and kill you. These are not the moral values of the leader and
his children.
[...]
Are they really the alternative
to the Leader, Mu'ammar Al-Qadhafi?! This is my only question to the
Libyan people. Use your own judgment.
[...]
