AFP reported that the French prosecution has indicted four executives from two separate French companies, accusing them of assisting the Gaddafi regime of spying on opposition figures, who were consequently arrested and severely tortured.

The news agency stated that the accusations of complicity in acts of torture and enforced disappearance were brought against the former head of Amisys, Philippe Vanier and the head of Nexa Technologies, Oliver Bohbot, along with two further executives.

They are accused of selling internet monitoring devices to Libya, which were used to track down Gaddafi’s opponents.

The news agency quoted lawyers for the International Federation for Human Rights as saying that this is a major step forward, indicating that links between activities of surveillance companies and human rights violations, should be considered crimes worthy of punishment.

It also noted that the human rights Federation had filed a major lawsuit, initiating the investigations following a report by the Wall Street Journal on the incident, noting that these secret deals date back to 2011.