Iman Obeidi A Libyan woman who alleged she was gang-raped and tortured by Muammar Qadhafi’s security forces demanded justice on Thursday , telling CNN television the people who attacked her were still free.
"I am an ordinary Libyan citizen. I come from a good family. I am not mentally challenged and I want my rights," she said in an interview.
"The people who raped me and beat me are still roaming the streets."
Obeidi stormed into Tripoli's Rixos Hotel at breakfast time on March 26 and threw open her coat to reveal scars and bruises on her body to expose her ordeal.
As she screamed: "Film me, film me, show the whole world all they did to me," she was dragged off by security guards amid scenes of mayhem while journalists who tried to intervene were shoved aside.
Obeidi told of being stopped at a Tripoli checkpoint because she was from the rebel stronghold of Benghazi.
"They tied me up and abused me for two days," she alleged.
Three days later, a government official said investigations were continuing, but that Obeidi would be charged with defamation.
"Accusing someone of a sex crime in a conservative society like ours is a very serious matter," spokesman Musa Ibrahim told AFP. "She gave the names of the people she accused of raping her and they have lodged a complaint for defamation and calumny against her."
He said the affair was "still under investigation" and that Obeidi was at liberty "awaiting the outcome of the inquiries”.
Obeidi told CNN she was "brutally tortured", and accused the government spokesman of speaking without any knowledge of the case.
"They just know how to lie," she said.
Obeidi said she had spoken to Qadhafi's son, Saadi, about her plight.
"He was a humble and understanding man and he treated me well," she said. "He said that he would take my case and help me. I only ask for one thing, which is to clear my name in front of the people and to take legal measures against the state TV, after all the lies they said about me."
Obeidi said she had also asked Saadi Qadhafi for help to return to her family.
On Wednesday, Human Rights Watch said Libyan authorities should allow her to leave Tripoli for her own safety and to receive medical treatment.
After a petition demanding her release reached its target of half a million signatures, Obeidi confirmed in telephone interviews this week that she had been freed after she had been examined by a doctor, who supported her allegations that she had been raped and tortured.
But she was not at liberty to leave Tripoli, she said.