No Result
View All Result
Monday, September 25, 2023
24 °c
Tripoli
24 ° Tue
24 ° Wed
24 ° Thu
25 ° Fri
  • Advertising
  • Contact
LibyaHerald
 
  • Home
  • Libya
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Magazine
  • Advertising
  • Login
  • Register
SUBSCRIBE
  • Home
  • Libya
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Magazine
  • Advertising
  • Login
  • Register
No Result
View All Result
LibyaHerald
No Result
View All Result
Home Libya

Trial of Qaddafi regime figures appears to be entering final stage

byNigel Ash
May 5, 2015
Reading Time: 3 mins read
A A
Trial of Qaddafi regime figures appears to be entering final stage

Some of the defendants in the dock at the Habda courtroom (Photo:social media)

12
SHARES
51
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

By Libya Herald reporters.

Some of the defendants in the dock at the Habda courtroom (Photo:social media)
Some of the defendants in the dock at the Habda courtroom (Photo:social media)

Tripoli, May 4 2015

The “final” part of the trial of former leading figures of the Qaddafi regime . . .[restrict]will be held on 20 May, a Tripoli television station has announced .

The trial of up to 39 defendants, including former security chief Abdullah Al-Senussi and Qaddafi’s son Saif Al-Islam,  has been going on since April last year, but remains shrouded in secrecy.

Nobody is even sure how many of the defendants are actually on trial, with numbers of those present in recent hearings fluctuating between 23 to 36.  No figure was given for those at Sunday’s hearing.

RELATED POSTS

Top law firm joins new British Libyan Business Association

An academy with a difference in Tripoli

The announcement that the trial was entering its “final” stage came yesterday from Al-Naba TV, but its news report made no mention as to whether this meant a verdict is due, or only that this will be the final hearing of evidence.

The case had originally been billed as a grand calling-to-account for the leaders of the Qaddafi dictatorship, with defendants including former prime minister Al-Baghdadi Al-Mahmoudi and Abu Zeid Dorda, chief of Qaddafi’s external security agency.

Together, they are accused of running one of the world’s most oppressive dictatorships, responsible for forty years of persecution, torture and theft on a grand scale.

In 2013 the International Criminal Court ruled that Libya was competent to hold the trial of Senussi, although it gave no such ruling for Saif Islam because of the failure of the Zintan militia to hand him over to state authorities. Both men were indicted for war crimes and crimes against humanity by the ICC in 2011.

The case, held in a specially-built courthouse in Tripoli’s maximum security Al-Hadba prison, began on 14 April last year amid confusion, with Saif failing to be produced by Zintan for a video link to the trial. Misrata refused to hand over the seven defendants that it was holding, while prosecutors admitted they had no clear information on a further eight accused.

Also unclear is whether a second son of the late dictator, Saadi, extradited from Niger last year, has been added to the case or is to be tried separately.

Last May a UN monitor was detained by militia guarding the prison and  accused of black magic. The government later issuing an apology.

In July the onset of civil war saw UN monitors evacuate the capital along with the rest of the UN mission and most embassies.

The conflict has seen the recognised government flee to the eastern town of Tobruk, with Tripoli now controlled by a rival administration, which has styled itself the National Salvation Government.

Since then trial-watchers have had to apply guesswork when they seek to follow the trial proceedings.

These are held  periodically by the Tripoli Appeals Court in sessions lasting no more than a day, some of them postponed without hearings, some seeing several hours of evidence heard.

A total of 23 hearings has been held in Tripoli since 14 April. The public is not allowed access, there is no live TV coverage and apparently no publicly accessible record. However, journalists and relatives of the accused have been allowed into hearings, though it is not clear if the court has met at other times without giving public notice.

Unclear also is whether there has been sufficient time, in a trial that has seen only 23 sessions, some of them postponed, to lay out fully the evidence against 39 defendants and then to allow each to present their defence and cross-examine the evidence.

What is known is that the defendants face a wide variety of charges including embezzlement, actions harmful to the nation, murder, looting and incitement to rape. Chief prosecutor Sadiq Al-Sur said last year his evidence was contained within a 4,000-page dossier. This has never been published.

The court has stated that all defendants have lawyers. However, Amnesty International has claimed that there have been cases of intimidation among judges, lawyers and witnesses.

Earlier this year Senussi’s British-based lawyers appointed by the ICC demanded the Hague review whether it was correct to rule, as it had, that Libya was capable of holding a trial that complied with ICC standards.

But ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda insisted that she has no reason to think the trial is not proceeding according to ICC standards.

  [/restrict]

 
Tags: featuredLibyanears endQaddafi regime trial
Share5Tweet3Share1

Related Posts

Qatar delivers 267 tons of humanitarian aid to Libya’s Storm Daniel hit areas in eight flights
Libya

Qatar delivers 267 tons of humanitarian aid to Libya’s Storm Daniel hit areas in eight flights

September 25, 2023
UAE’s Libya humanitarian air bridge delivers 622 tons in 28 flights benefiting 6,386 families stricken by Storm Daniel
Libya

UAE’s Libya humanitarian air bridge delivers 622 tons in 28 flights benefiting 6,386 families stricken by Storm Daniel

September 25, 2023
Attorney General orders arrests at Jumhouria bank branch for embezzlement
Libya

Public Prosecutor orders pretrial detention of 16 officials complicit in Derna dams disaster

September 25, 2023
UNSMIL: Warring parties invited to begin negotiations on 29 September
Libya

UNSMIL head Bathily calls on polarised Libyan political entities to follow their citizen’s lead by unifying post the Derna disaster

September 24, 2023
Libya’s eastern government meets Egyptian companies to discuss post Storm Daniel reconstruction
Libya

Eastern Libyan government calls for international reconstruction conference for Flood Daniel hit areas

September 24, 2023
Al-Ruqaii seizure violates human rights, says Amnesty International
Libya

Eastern Libya authorities must lift restrictions on journalists: Amnesty International

September 22, 2023
Next Post

Thinni discusses building two new oil refineries with foreign company

AGOCO expects 20% rise in exports in May

 

Advertise on LibyaHerald

Reach thousands of our site visitors daily

240 x 400px

Advertise Here
ADVERTISEMENT

Top Stories

  • Derna disaster update: Five Greek aid workers die in road accident, Spanish and Maltese teams return home

    Derna disaster update: Five Greek aid workers die in road accident, Spanish and Maltese teams return home

    101 shares
    Share 41 Tweet 25
  • UN’s Derna overview: Officially, only 3,958 confirmed dead and 40,000 displaced

    73 shares
    Share 33 Tweet 17
  • Civil Aviation Authority concludes meetings with Turkish Civil Aviation team inspecting airports for possible return of Turkish airliners

    61 shares
    Share 29 Tweet 14
  • EU Copernicus satellite images of Flood Daniel hit Libya released

    56 shares
    Share 25 Tweet 13
  • Derna update: International aid continues to arrive, infrastructure damage update

    52 shares
    Share 23 Tweet 12
LibyaHerald

The Libya Herald first appeared on 17 February 2012 – the first anniversary of the Libyan Revolution. Since then, it has become a favourite go-to source on news about Libya, for many in Libya and around the world, regularly attracting millions of hits.

Recent News

Qatar delivers 267 tons of humanitarian aid to Libya’s Storm Daniel hit areas in eight flights

UAE’s Libya humanitarian air bridge delivers 622 tons in 28 flights benefiting 6,386 families stricken by Storm Daniel

Sitemap

  • Why subscribe?
  • Terms & Conditions
  • FAQs
  • Copyright & Intellectual Property Rights
  • Subscribe now

Newsletters

    Be the first to know latest important news & events directly to your inbox.

    Sending ...

    By signing up, I agree to our TOS and Privacy Policy.

    © 2022 LibyaHerald - Powered by Sparx Solutions.

    No Result
    View All Result
    • Login
    • Sign Up
    • Cart
    • Libya
    • Business
    • Advertising
    • About us
    • BusinessEye Magazine
    • Letters
    • Features
    • Why subscribe?
    • FAQs
    • Contact

    © 2022 LibyaHerald - Powered by Sparx Solutions.

    Welcome Back!

    Sign In with Facebook
    Sign In with Linked In
    OR

    Login to your account below

    Forgotten Password? Sign Up

    Create New Account!

    Sign Up with Facebook
    Sign Up with Linked In
    OR

    Fill the forms bellow to register

    *By registering into our website, you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.
    All fields are required. Log In

    Retrieve your password

    Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

    Log In
    This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.
    Are you sure want to unlock this post?
    Unlock left : 0
    Are you sure want to cancel subscription?