By Ashraf Abdul Wahab
Tripoli, 24 October 2013:
A Tripoli court today ruled that all 31 former senior Qaddafi-era officials, including his son . . .[restrict]Saif Al-Islam and his security chief Abdullah Senussi, should be sent for trial on charges ranging from mass murder, to incitement to rape and corruption.
After the hearing, a spokesman for the prosecutor’s office, Seddik al-Sour, told AFP that the court expected all the defendants to be present when the full trial gets under way. This was a clear reference to Saif, who remains in Zintani custody, and was not delivered to any of the pre-trial hearings, despite his captors being ordered the produce him.
Among those now sent for full trial are former External Security Agency head Abu Zaid Omar Dorda, former Foreign Minister Abdulati El-Obaidi, General People’s Conference head Mohamed Al-Zway, former Prime Minister Al-Baghdadi Al-Mahmoudi and Tripoli Internal Security Agency head Mansour Dhou
Seddik said that only ten of the accused appeared today in the courtroom attached to the Habda prison where they are being held. The spokesman insisted that their presence was not necessary and that they after the hearing, they had been informed of their committal for trial. Seddik added however that all the defendants would be required to attend the full trial, a start date for which has yet to be fixed.
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