Libyan Activists Recruit Tens of Thousands in Support of Pilots Who Refused to Bomb Civilians

by Benjamin Joffe-Walt · 2011-03-02 09:09:00 UTC
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A group of Libyan activists have gathered tens of thousands of signatures in under 24 hours on a petition calling for Malta to grant asylum to two Libyan pilots who defected to the small island nation last Monday.

That's more than 1,000 signatures an hour!

These pilots faced an unimaginable choice: bomb their countrymen or face likely execution if they returned without carrying out the attacks. Instead, they found a third option - flying their Mirage jets out of Libya and defecting to the nearby island nation of Malta.

In doing so, they saved the lives of untold numbers of their fellow Libyans.

But to date the Maltese government has been silent as to the fate of the two pilots, and the decision rests with Malta's Refugee Commissioner Mario Guido Friggieri.

If the pilots are sent back to Libya, they will likely be executed.

A grassroots Libyan group called ENOUGH! has started a petition on Change.org to pressure the Maltese government to grant asylum to these two pilots, which will mean saving their lives and possibly preventing future attacks on civilians.

Ask Malta to grant asylum to Libyan pilots who refused to murder protesters.

The petition calls upon the Maltese government to make a public declaration of asylum for the pilots in order to “encourage more pilots and ship captains to refuse to attack civilians.”

These grassroots Libyan activists' call gained greater significance this morning as reports emerged that Libyan forces bombed the town of Ajdabiya.

The activists at ENOUGH! Gaddafi believe that with enough international pressure we can win this campaign and potentially save the lives of many other Libyans if this helps to encourage more pilots and ship captains to refuse to attack civilians. If we succeed, we’ll work to spread the word in Libya that no one needs to die when soldiers are ordered to kill civilians.

Please share the petition with your friends!

Winning this and similar campaigns depends on our ability to quickly call on thousands of supportive folks like you. After signing the petition below, please click here to follow us on Facebook - just click ‘Like’ at the top of the page.

Photo credit: Matt Morgan

Benjamin Joffe-Walt is a Change.org editor. He is an award-winning journalist and has written extensively on human rights issues in the US, Africa and the Middle East.

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Malta: Save Libyan Civilians and Grant Asylum to Libyan Pilots
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