In Libya, members of a human trafficking ring were given long prison sentences

The Tripoli Criminal Court sentenced four members of a criminal group to prison terms ranging from 12 to 22 years for human trafficking, kidnapping migrants for ransom, and torture.

This was announced by the Libyan Prosecutor General's Office.

The names of the convicted are not being disclosed. One of the defendants was sentenced in absentia.

According to investigators, the group smuggled migrants from the coastal town of Zuwara, west of Tripoli. The criminals also kidnapped migrants and extorted money from their relatives, sending them videos of the victims being tortured.

Since the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi's regime in 2011, Libya has remained one of the main transit routes for migrants attempting to reach Europe via the desert and the Mediterranean Sea.

Earlier, the bodies of at least 17 people, presumably migrants, were found off the coast of Zuwara.

Furthermore, the Libyan Prosecutor's Office ordered the arrest of members of another criminal group that organized the transfer of migrants from the city of Tobruk on a defective boat. The boat sank in the Mediterranean Sea, killing 38 citizens of Sudan, Egypt, and Ethiopia.

In November, several countries, including the United Kingdom, Spain, Norway, and Sierra Leone, called on Libya to close migrant detention centers where, according to human rights organizations, refugees and migrants are subjected to torture, violence, and cruel treatment.