Libyan activist Salwa Bugaighis killed

BENGHAZI , Libya, June 26 (UPI) -- Salwa Bugaighis, a Libyan human rights and women's rights activist, was shot and killed after she voted in national elections.

According to a security official, hooded men in uniforms met Bugaighis at her Benghazi home Wednesday and opened fire on her. Bugaighis' husband, who shared the home, is missing, a family member said.

Bugaighis was a lawyer who defended political prisoners in Libya during the regime of Moammar Gadhafi. She was key to the country's 2011 revolution, helping to organize a demonstration in Benghazi -- among the first to propel the transfer of power.

She joined the National Transitional council of Libya to help form a new government, but left after four months, protesting the new government's lack of women.

"My main concern is the role of the women in the future. We want equal opportunity in all sectors. We want to ensure that our rights in the constitution will be there. ... I know the society is not ready yet because the tribal mentality, the stereotypes of women, we have to work hard to change the mentality of the society," she said.