Umar Khan TRIPOLI – Under Muammar Gaddafi, Libya was one of the most restrictive countries in the world when it came to free speech. With the regime's collapse last August, the road finally became open for those who had opposed Gaddafi for so long to tell their side of the story. There are countless people who have a story to tell, but that of Mohammed Yusuf Magarief, the newly-elected Speaker of the National Congress, stands out because of its depth. Magarief's relationship with Gaddafi started just two years after the dictator came to power in 1969, and ended with the latter's death 39 years later. There were several attempts on Magarief's life by Qaddafi's agents during this period, most famously the downing of a UTA airliner over Chad in 1989, which cost the lives of all 170 people on board. Seen as the symbol of resistance for over 31 years, Magarief began his struggle when he publically announced his opposition to the regime in 1980. This proved to be a turning point in Libyan history as it encouraged the people to not only voice their concerns, but to do something about it. Shortly afterwards, in October 1981, Magarief founded the opposition organisation the National Front for the Salvation of Libya (NFSL), together with several other likeminded dissidents, and he continued to work democracy in Libya for 31 years whilst living in exile. The NFSL, which in May 2012 became the National Front party of which Magarief is also the head, stood on a simple twin platform: the removal of Gaddafi from power and the establishment of a democratic Libyan state. The journey from being the most wanted man by a regime to the head of the Libyan congress took 32 long years and involved a great number of risks. From 1971-2, Magarief served as the vice-dean of the University of Tripoli, during which time he never hid his discontent with the regime. Speaking about his time at the university, Magaraif recalls sharing his views on the responsibility of the state with his students. “After close observations I realised that the regime was going against the aspirations of the people. I never said anything against the regime but never hid my feelings and the discourse between me and my colleagues was clear to the students.” The first time Magarief felt the regime was going too far to protect itself was the time when he visited the prisons in Tripoli to see old friends. “I arranged through a cousin, who was a minister and also a member of the RCC (revolutionary command committee), to visit the prisons in Tripoli. I remember how angry I felt at the condition of the prisoners”, he adds emotionally. “I told my cousin, ‘you have the right to protect yourselves from the enemies of the revolution (slogan of Gaddafi's revolution) but you should know your limits because if you don't, you'll turn the lives of people into hell'.” The reports about torture were emerging in those days but with Magarief's complaint straight to the higher staff, a committee was formed to look into the allegations of prisoner abuse and torture. “My cousin responded to my complaints and set up a committee to investigate the matter”, Magarief recalls. “He later paid with his life. He was killed in 1972 in a car accident but we know that he was murdered by the regime.” Worried that he may have proved dangerous if allowed to continue in the university and have direct interaction with the students, the regime attempted to silence Magarief by promoting him. “The regime promoted me from the vice-dean of the university to the auditor general of Libya. I knew it was a way to silence me but I kept working in a similar fashion. I worked as the auditor general for five years, from July 1972 to November 1977. I did my job properly; wrote reports about the irregularities, massive corruption and embezzlement of funds that was clearly taken place; and openly criticised the RCC.” The auditing reports by Magaraif were “very well received” by the RCC and according to him the report he wrote for the year 1974 was behind a serious coup d'état attempt by RCC officers. The auditor general in the 1970s reported directly to the RCC and Magarief met Qaddafi many times because of the work did.“Once he (Qaddafi) wrote on the report, in front of me, that a third party should be formed to look into the findings of the report but I knew that nothing would happen and indeed nothing did.” Despite the regime's efforts to silence him or to force him to stop highlighting the issues, Magarief continued to work in the same way until the regime could no longer tolerate it. – Libya Herald
