Misrata Council of Elders and Notables issued a statement to denounce the crackdown on demonstrations at Tripoli’s Martyrs Square by armed groups affiliated with the Presidential Council of the UN-proposed government on Friday.

The statement also decried the way those groups treated the crews of Tanasuh and Al-Nabaa TV channels as well as the abduction of a number of activists and confiscating of Tanasuh TV’s cameras and equipment.

“This is very dangerous and it has never happened before as it poses a bad omen for what the human rights and freedom of speech situation would be if the Presidential Council’s government took control of the country.” The statement reads.

It also called for the release of the kidnapped activists, calling on all Libyans to discard such practices that will bring the country back to dictatorship and oppression, which both were the rudiments of the former regime.

On Friday, the crews of Tanasuh TV and Al-Nabaa TV were prevented from covering the demonstrations at Tripoli’s Martyrs Square, where people were chanting words condemning the French intervention in Libya and calling on the Presidential Council to step down.