Libya court sentences two Swiss businessmen to jail

TRIPOLI Dec 1 (Reuters) - A Libyan court sentenced two Swiss businessmen to 16 months in prison on Tuesday, a Libyan judicial source said, following charges of visa irregularities and tax evasion.

The men have been held in Libya since July 2008 after the arrest in Geneva of a son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi on charges, later dropped, of mistreating two domestic employees.

The source said the businessmen were also fined 2,000 dinars each. They had also faced a third charge of failing to respect rules for companies working in Libya. "They have the right to appeal," the source said, without providing further details.

(Reporting by Salah Sarrar; Writing by Tom Pfeiffer) ((maghreb.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com; tel: +212 5 3772 6518; fax: +212 5 3772 2499))