Qaddafi’s son sentenced to death in Libya, but court lacks custody

A Libyan court sentenced Saif al-Islam, son of deposed leader Muammar Qaddafi, to death alongside eight former officials of the ousted regime. A militia group has imprisoned the son and refused to hand him over.  

|
Stringer/Reuters/Files
Saif al-Islam Qaddafi, son of late Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi, attends a hearing behind bars in a courtroom in Zintan, Libya in this May 25, 2014 file photo. The Libyan court has sentenced Saif to death. The verdict was passed on Saif in absentia since he has been held since 2011 by a former rebel group in Zintan that opposes the Tripoli government.

A court in Libya passed a death sentence in absentia on Saif al-Islam, son of late dictator Muammar Qaddafi, for war crimes linked to the uprising that deposed his father. But the verdict is unlikely to be carried out as long as the militia group holding the convicted son refuses to hand him over. 

The Tripoli-based court convicted Mr. Islam of murder and incitement to violence during the 2011 uprising that ousted his father, who was killed by rebels later that year. The court also condemned eight other Qaddafi associates, including his former intelligence chief Abdullah Senussi and ex-prime minister Mahmoudi al Baghdadi, Reuters reports.

The trial, which involved more than 30 former Qaddafi-regime officials, is being severely criticized as both unfair and unprofessional. It could also deepen Libya's political chaos: Two governments are vying for legitimacy – one in Tripoli, the capital, and one in Tobruk in the east of the country – and in many areas a blend of Islamist militias and criminal gangs vie for control. Delivering justice in that environment is a tall order.

“This trial has been plagued by persistent, credible allegations of fair trial breaches that warrant independent and impartial judicial review,” Joe Stork, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. “The victims of the serious crimes committed during the 2011 uprising deserve justice, but that can only be delivered through fair and transparent proceedings.”

Since the fall of Qaddafi, Libya “has struggled to establish the rule of law and a state monopoly on the legitimate use of force” in the face of armed factions and weak institutions, the Christian Science Monitor reported earlier this year.

Saif is being held by a militia allied with the Tobruk-based government in the city of Zintan, about 90 miles south of Tripoli and over 800 miles west from Tobruk. The Zintanis emerged as a major autonomous power in the civil war to oust Qaddafi. They have sought to use the younger Qaddafi as a bargaining chip since catching him and have vowed not to hand him over to the Tripoli court that sentenced him.

The United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights said it was “deeply disturbed” by the death sentences and the proceedings, which began in April 2014 and were held at Hadba Al-Khadra prison. The Council of Europe said the case should have been handed to the International Criminal Court at The Hague, which wants Saif al-Islam for crimes against humanity, the New York Times reported.

Still, it’s unlikely that Islam, who had been tipped to succeed his father, will face a firing squad anytime soon. In addition to his defiant Zintani captors, Libyans sentenced to death have 60 days to appeal, according to the Libya Herald. An Islam defense lawyer, Ali Aldaa, told the New York Times that he would contest the conviction before the Libyan Supreme Court, which needs to endorse the sentences.

More than 30 others with links to the Qaddafi regime were tried for suppressing peaceful protests during the revolt. Most were handed jail terms that ranged from life imprisonment to about five years, the Herald reported. Four were cleared of charges.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Qaddafi’s son sentenced to death in Libya, but court lacks custody
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Security-Watch/terrorism-security/2015/0728/Qaddafi-s-son-sentenced-to-death-in-Libya-but-court-lacks-custody
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe