AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Pressure is mounting on Libya to hand
over Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of the late Libyan leader, to the international war crimes court after a defence lawyer said
he had been physically attacked and misled over the charges against him.
Obari, Libya November 19, 2011. REUTERS/Ammar El-Darwish
The Libyan authorities and the International Criminal Court (ICC), the war crimes court based in The
Hague, have been locked in a dispute over where Saif al-Islam should face trial.
Libya wants to try Muammar Gaddafi’s
son in a domestic court, where he would face the death penalty if found guilty, whereas the ICC on Wednesday insisted that he
should be handed over to The Hague, where he would face imprisonment if convicted.
“Mr. Gaddafi has been physically
attacked” while being held in Libya, Xavier-Jean Keïta, principal counsel at the ICC’s Office of Public Counsel for the
Defence, said in an emailed statement.
“He also suffers pain due to the absence of dental treatment. The Libyan
authorities have failed to take any steps to remedy this pain by according Mr. Gaddafi the medical and dental treatment
ordered by the Chamber almost a month ago.”
The ICC issued warrants last year for the arrest of Muammar Gaddafi, Saif
al-Islam, and the Libyan leader’s intelligence chief, Abdullah al-Senussi, who was arrested last month in
Mauritania.
Since the elder Gaddafi was killed after being captured alive by rebel fighters, competing militias have
yet to lay down their arms and Western human rights organisations have accused them of carrying out numerous extra-judicial
executions and other abuses, raising serious questions about the rule of law.
The ICC issued a warrant for Saif
al-Islam in June 2011 after prosecutors accused him and others of involvement in the killing of protesters during the revolt
that eventually toppled and killed his father in August.
But Libya says Gaddafi’s British-educated son should face
justice at home. He was caught last year disguised as a Bedouin tribesman in the Sahara desert, months after telling his
father’s opponents they would be exterminated like rats.
The defence lawyer, Keïta, also said that Saif al-Islam has
been given misleading information concerning the status of domestic investigations against him.
“Mr. Gaddafi was
advised that he was being investigated for trivial allegations concerning the absence of a licence for camels, and
irregularities concerning fish farms, and that he would not be pursued for serious crimes, such as murder and rape, due to
lack of evidence,” the defence counsel said.
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But, the lawyer added,
the Libyan authorities then “performed a dramatic volte-face”: when asked by the ICC to hand over Saif al-Islam, they told
the ICC that they wanted to investigate and prosecute him in Libya for serious crimes that come under the ICC’s
jurisdiction.
Keïta said Saif al-Islam has been held in detention by the Libyan authorities for 139 days, without
being brought before a judge, and had been unable to communicate with his family and friends or to receive visits from
them.
“Apart from visits from officials and prosecuting authorities, he has been kept in total isolation,” Keïta
said.