Libya 'sets September trial' for Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

The ICC's Sonia Robia: "The ICC judges have requested additional information from the Libyan authorities"

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of former leader Col Muammar Gaddafi, will go on trial in Libya in September, a Libyan prosecution spokesman has said.

Saif al-Islam, 40, will face trial in the town of Zintan, where he has been held since his capture last year.

The International Criminal Court, which has issued a warrant for crimes against humanity, says it is aware of the news but has not been contacted by Libya.

Saif al-Islam has said he wants to be tried at the ICC in The Hague.

Activists have also raised fears that he could face the death penalty if found guilty in Libya.

Saif al-Islam was considered the most likely successor to Col Gaddafi before the uprising that led to his father's downfall last year.

Col Gaddafi, whose autocratic rule lasted for 42 years, was killed after being captured by rebels last October.

'More secure'

Announcing the trial date, the prosecutor general's spokesman, Taha Nasser Baara, said: "A committee from the prosecutor general's office has completed its investigation into the crimes committed by Saif al-Islam from the start of the revolution on February 15 (2011) and has prepared the charge sheet."

Mr Baara said the charges would be "approved by the prosecutor general in the coming days and a date set for the September trial opening".

Saif al-Islam has been held in Zintan, 170km (130 miles) south-west of Tripoli, since his capture by militiamen last November. The militiamen have demanded Saif al-Islam be tried in Zintan.

The ICC said it was aware of the reports from Libya but added that legal proceedings on the admissibility of its own case were still pending.

Mr Baara said there had been "no intervention by the ICC" in the investigations and that Libyan prosecutors had "solid proof" to try Saif al-Islam.

Saif al-Islam has called for a trial in The Hague.

His lawyers quoted him as saying this month: "I am not afraid to die but if you execute me after such a trial [in Libya] you should just call it murder and be done with it."

Source: BBC News, August 24, 2012

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Saif al-Islam to be moved to Tripoli, Niger confiscates Saadi’s communication devices

Saif al-Islam Qaddafi, son and one-time heir apparent of toppled Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi, will be moved to a Tripoli prison within two months and then face trial, the chairman of Libya’s National Transitional Council (NTC) said on Sunday.

Three months after his capture in Libya’s Sahara desert dressed as a Bedouin tribesman, Saif al-Islam remains at a secret location in the northwestern town of Zintan, reflecting a wider problem of powerful local militias and a weak central government in the North African country.

In an interview with Reuters, Mustafa Abdul Jalil said authorities were completing the construction of a prison in central Tripoli, begun under the late Muammar Qaddafi, to which Saif al-Islam would be moved.

“At this moment he is being interrogated and his trial will begin as soon as the prison facility is ready,” Abdul Jalil said. “I can’t give an exact timeframe in terms of weeks or months for this but it will not be more than two months.”

Zintan commanders say they have kept Saif al-Islam in their remote mountain town, rather than hand him over to Tripoli, to spare him the fate of his father.

He now faces trial in Tripoli on murder and rape charges and could face the death penalty if convicted. The International Criminal Court in The Hague has indicted him for crimes against humanity but Libya says he will be tried in his home country.

Abdul Jalil said Niger had confiscated communication devices belonging to Saif al-Islam’s brother Saadi, after al-Arabiya broadcast an interview with him on Friday.

In the telephone interview Saadi, who fled south to Niger in September, said he was in regular contact with people in Libya unhappy with authorities and warned of a “coming uprising” in the country.

That prompted Libya to urge Niger to extradite Saadi, saying his comments threatened bilateral ties. But Niger said it could not hand over Saadi because he would face execution in Libya

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Source: alarabiya, Reuters, Feb. 12, 2012

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Libya will try Gaddafi's son fairly: ICC prosecutor

Saif al-Islam Qaddafi

(Reuters) - Libya will make a point of giving Muammar Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam a fair trial to show the world it is no longer a tinpot dictatorship, the International Criminal Court's prosecutor said on Thursday.

Luis Moreno-Ocampo has said he will not demand that Saif al-Islam be handed over to the Hague to face charges of crimes against humanity even though he has no guarantee that a Libyan trial would be fully fair.

In a Reuters interview, he said he believed Libya would still put together a convincing trial and not a whitewash.

"They are committed to doing something very good," Moreno-Ocampo said in Tripoli after meetings with Libyan officials following Saif al-Islam's capture on Saturday.

"They want to show the world that this is a serious country with smart people and they can do a good job. It's an issue of national pride. I think you should not distrust them so easily."

The National Transitional Council (NTC), which led the revolt that toppled Gaddafi in August and has ruled the country since his fall, has repeatedly said it will not hand over Saif al-Islam and will ensure that he faces a fair trial in Libya.

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Source: Reuters, November 24, 2011

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ICC prosecutor concedes Libya may try Gaddafi's son

(Reuters) - The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor conceded Tuesday that the captured son of Muammar Gaddafi may be tried in Libya rather than in The Hague, meaning he faces the death penalty if convicted.

The Hague-based ICC has indicted Gaddafi's son, Saif al-Islam, for crimes against humanity. But Moreno-Ocampo said Saif al-Islam, who was captured Saturday, could be tried inside Libya as long as the trial complies with ICC standards.

"Saif is captured so we are here to ensure cooperation. Now in May, we requested an arrest warrant because Libyans could not do justice in Libya. Now as Libyans are decided to do justice, they could do justice and we'll help them to do it, so that is the system," he told reporters on his arrival in Tripoli.

"Our International Criminal Court acts when the national system cannot act. They have decided to do it and that is why we are here to learn and to understand what they are doing and to cooperate."

Libyan officials have promised a fair trial but the country still has the death penalty on its books, whereas the severest punishment the ICC can impose is life imprisonment.

"The law says the primacy is for the national system. If they prosecute the case here, we will discuss with them how to inform the judges and they can do it. But our judges have to be involved," said Moreno-Ocampo.

Saif al-Islam was captured in an ambush deep in the Sahara desert and is now being held in the town of Zintan, in the Western Mountains region where his captors are based.

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Source: Reuters, November 22, 2011

Gaddafi's son could face death penalty in Libya: minister

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi will be put on trial in Libya for serious crimes that carry the death penalty, Libya's interim justice minister said Saturday.

Asked by Reuters what Libya planned for him, Mohammed al-Alagy said: "He has instigated others to kill, has misused public funds, threatened and instigated and even took part in recruiting and bringing in mercenaries.

"This is just a small account of the crimes that the Libyan prosecutor general is going to bring against him."

Asked if such crimes carried the death penalty, Alagy, who has said he does not expect to retain his post in a new government due to be named in the coming days, said: "Yes.

"It was created by Gaddafi."

The International Criminal Court at The Hague indicted the younger Gaddafi for crimes against humanity relating to allegations that he ordered the killing of demonstrators after February's uprising. But Libyans want to try him at home for crimes allegedly committed over previous years.

"We are ready to prosecute Saif al-Islam," Alagy said. "We have adopted enough legal and judicial procedures to ensure a fair trial for him."

Noting that the interim government had done away with special military courts used by Muammar Gaddafi to persecute opponents, Alagy said: "We have abolished all exceptional courts and have separated the judicial and executive powers.

"We call on all international and local organizations to attend Saif al-Islam's trial. We will prosecute him in accordance with the international standards."

He said the final charge sheet would be up to the prosecutor general: "We can't speculate and accuse him before it is officially announced by the prosecutor who will investigate the matter.

"We all know that Saif al-Islam is wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity. I do not think that the Libyan prosecutor general will indict him for anything less than that."

The ICC does not have the death penalty.

Source: MSNBC, November 20, 2011

Gaddafi's son will get fair trial - Libyan PM

Saif al-Islam Qaddafi

Nov 19 (Reuters) - Libya's prime minister hailed the capture of Muammar Gaddafi's son on Saturday as the "crowning" of the Libyan uprising and promised a fair trial for Saif al-Islam, who was found in the southern desert overnight.

"I want to assure our people and all nations of the world that Saif and those with him will be given a fair trial, with the guarantees of local and international law - those legal processes which our own people were deprived of," he told a news conference in the Western mountain town of Zintan, where Saif al-Islam and several bodyguards had been taken.

The West urged Libya's new rulers to give Saif al-Islam a fair trial and work with the International Criminal Court to bring him to justice, fearing he might suffer the same fate as his father, who was beaten and shot dead after his capture.

Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt pressed for his removal to the International Criminal Court in The Hague, which wants to try the 39-year-old on charges of crimes against humanity during the crackdown on protests.

But many Libyans want Saif al-Islam tried at home, believing he knows the location of billions of dollars of public money amassed by the Gaddafi family.

Libya's interim justice minister said the country would try him first, for crimes that carry the death penalty.

"We are ready to prosecute Saif al-Islam," Mohammed al-Alagy said. "We have adopted enough legal and judicial procedures to ensure a fair trial for him."

Click here to read the full article

Source: Reuters, November 19, 2011