TRIPOLI, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- Libya's Court of Appeal on Wednesday sentenced 45 supporters of former leader Gaddafi's regime to death over the killing of demonstrators in the capital Tripoli during the 2011 uprising, according to the Ministry of Justice.

"The Second Criminal Circuit of the Court of Appeal of Tripoli issued verdict in the case of Abu Salim highway... in which 128 people are accused," the ministry said in a statement.

The Ministry said that the Court convicted 99 people, 45 of whom were sentenced to death.

The case goes back to Aug. 21, 2011, when supporters of the Gaddafi regime killed a number of civilian demonstrators near the highway in the capital Tripoli.

Video footage circulated showed Gaddafi supporters forcing the demonstrators to kneel and then executed them on the spot.