Falsely accused Nova Scotia man back home after 56 days in Libyan jail

Canadian embassy officials waited 3 weeks before visiting Don Symes in dangerous prison

Don Symes is back home with his Nova Scotia family after spending eight weeks fending off disease, violence, and cockroaches in a Tripoli prison. Symes was working in Libya as a warehouse manager for an oil drilling company when he and three coworkers were falsely accused of beating a man. After his arrest he was confined to a cell measuring 44 metres square with 40 other prisoners. Though he had an airtight alibi, he received little legal help and officials from the Canadian embassy didn’t come to check on his condition until three weeks after his arrest. A judge eventually threw out the charges.