[4] In the years prior to the February 2011 revolution in Libya, Bugaighis defended the cases of a number of ex-political prisoners against the government of Muammar Gaddafi.

[1] On 25 June 2014, Bugaighis was shot through the head by a group of four gunmen who broke into her house, wounding a security guard and abducting her husband, Essam al-Ghariani.

Fariha al-Berkawi, a member of the General National Congress who strongly condemned Bughaighis' death, was shot by a gunman at a gas station in Derna three weeks later, on 17 July 2014.

[5] British ambassador Michael Aron tweeted "devastated about horrific murder" and called Bugaighis a "leading light of the 17 February revolution and human rights champion".

[10] US National Security Advisor Susan Rice, reflecting on meeting Bugaighis, said "I was deeply impressed by her courage, leadership and dedication to building a peaceful, democratic Libya where the rights and freedoms of all Libyan women and men are respected and protected.