Libya Court Jails 37 For Human Trafficking

A Libyan court has jailed 37 people convicted of human trafficking, following the deaths of 11 migrants who drowned in the Mediterranean Sea.

Five members of the criminal gang were sentenced to life in prison – others received between one and 15 years.

All had been involved in organising a dilapidated boat that was supposed to take the migrants to Italy.

Rights groups say many migrants experience horrific treatment there – both at the hands of smuggling gangs and inside state-run detention centres.

Libya has been plagued by conflict and chaos since Colonel Muammar Gaddafi was toppled in 2011.