Libyan Court Sentences Gadhafi Son to Death for 2011 Killings

Twenty-nine Muammar Gaddafi aides appeared in the Tripoli court for yesterday’s sentencing.

A Libyan appeals court sentenced the son of former leader Moamar Gadhafi to death, along with at least four regime officials, for their part in mass killings that occurred during a 2011 uprising that ultimately deposed the autocrat.

Salah al-Bakkoush, a Tripoli-based political analyst, said he did not expect the rulings to have strong resonance in Libya.

FILE – In this February 25, 2011, file photo, Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, son of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, speaks to the media at a press conference in a hotel in Tripoli, Libya.

They sat quietly, some making nervous movements of their hands, one or two grasping the bars of the cage, others playing with imaginary worry-beads.

Most sat impassively in the dock. The rest, including Libya’s former spy chief, are all in a prison in Tripoli. Read his story here!

Senoosi has been in custody since September 2012 when he was handed over by Mauritania, where he had sought refuge after the regime’s overthrow.

“I want my father to be taken outside Libya and have justice served in a real court”.

“But as people called for the fall of his father’s rule – he stood by him till the bitter end”, she added. “He’s not guilty”.

Saif al-Islam, who is being held by a former rebel group, was not in court when the verdict was given. He gave evidence via video link at the start of the trial.

Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi was captured in November 2011, but was never surrendered to the ICC, despite Libya’s obligations to do so.

The most high-profile of the eight children of Muammar Gaddafi, Saif as-Islam earned his PhD from London School of Economics, but later joined his father in running the state affairs of the north African country. Another, Sa’adi, was extradited to Libya from Niger in March 2014.

Saif al-Islam Gadhafi was not at the trial, as he is being held by a militia group in the northwestern city of Zintan.

“The trial has been conducted in an atmosphere of extreme fear, insecurity and intimidation in which judicial officers and defence lawyers have been threatened and physically attacked”, said the statement sent to Middle East Eye by email, which was attributed to Ben Emmerson QC.

Other defendants received sentences ranging from five years to life imprisonment, according to the BBC. Four of the 37 defendants were acquitted, others got shorter jail terms.