U.N. says Gaddafi son's trial unfair, should be sent to ICC

Record ID: 276083

  • Title: U.N. says Gaddafi son's trial unfair, should be sent to ICC
  • Date: 21st February 2017
  • Summary: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND (FEBRUARY 21, 2017) (REUTERS) UNITED NATIONS BUILDING NEWS BRIEFING ONGOING U.N. STAFF AND JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.N. OFFICE OF THE HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS (OHCHR) SPOKESWOMAN ELIZABETH THROSSELL SAYING: "The trial, in Libya, of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, and 36 other members of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's regime, represented a major ef
  • Embargoed: 7th March 2017 16:02
  • Keywords: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi ICC UN Muammar human rights
  • Location: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND AND TRIPOLI/ ZINTAN/IN AIR, LIBYA
  • City: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND AND TRIPOLI/ ZINTAN/IN AIR, LIBYA
  • Country: Switzerland
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Military Conflicts
  • Reuters ID: LVA00264GRXVR
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The trial of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, a son of the ousted Libyan leader sentenced to death in absentia, did not meet international standards and he should face murder charges at the International Criminal Court (ICC), the United Nations said on Tuesday (February 21).
    Since his father's toppling in 2011, Saif has been held in Zintan, a mountainous western region, by one of the factions that began contending for power after Gaddafi was killed.
    He was sentenced to death in July 2015 by a Tripoli court for war crimes, including killing protesters during the revolution. Zintani forces refused to hand him over, saying they did not trust Tripoli to guarantee he does not escape.
    The United Nations report on the trial of Saif and 36 other defendants cited serious violations of due process, such as prolonged incommunicado detention without access to families or lawyers, and allegations of torture that were not properly investigated.
    "The trial, in Libya, of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, and 36 other members of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's regime, represented a major effort by the Libyan judiciary to hold people to account for crimes, including grave human rights violations, during the 2011 revolution, but it ultimately failed to meet international fair trial standards, and that is the conclusion of this report", the U.N. spokeswoman for Human Rights Agency Elizabeth Throssell told reporters in Geneva.
    The U.N. report, by the U.N. Human Rights office and U.N. Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), urged Libyan authorities to reform the criminal justice system saying that the trial had highlighted "major flaws".
    "The report recognises the challenges of trying former members of the regime, especially amid armed conflict and political polarisation, but it points out that the conduct of this trial raises many concerns that should be addressed by the Libyan authorities," she added.
    Saif, former intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi and former Prime Minister Al-Baghdadi a-Mahmoudi, were among nine defendants sentenced to death by firing squad.
    The United Nations called on Libyan authorities to ensure the surrender of Saif to the Haugue-based ICC, "in compliance with Libya's international obligations". The ICC does not allow the death penalty.
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