(MENAFN) A death sentence was called for by a Lebanese judge for a man accused of sexually assaulting and killing British embassy worker Rebecca Dykes late last year.



Tarek Hawshiya, a 30-year-old Lebanese who is a driver with Uber, was arrested on December 18 admitted at the time to strangling Dykes after trying to rape her.



Judge Hanna Braidi accused Hawshiya of "raping British diplomat Rebecca Dykes and killing her in the neighbourhood of Achrafieh in Beirut in a premeditated and deliberate act."



The case will now be sent to Lebanon's criminal court for trial.



Death penalty is legal in Lebanon, but there has been an effective moratorium in place since 2004, without any executions carried out despite judgments to that effect.

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