Rights group condemns alleged abuse of Gadhafi son in Libya

The video seems to point out guards teasing and beating Saadi Gaddafi, who was extradited to Libya by Niger final yr. He has been held since then in a Tripoli jail dealing with expenses over the killing of a soccer participant when he headed the Libyan Football Federation, in addition to different crimes.

The man, wearing a green tracksuit top and with shaven head, bears a strong resemblance to Saadi, who was extradited to Libya by Niger previous year.

The video, which has not been independently verified, shows Saadi beaten on his face while being questioned and later on the soles of his feet, tied to a pipe, while he is screaming. There is no indication that Gaddafi or any of the other prisoners have any legal representation.

The undated video, which has been released by Arabic Clear News, shows the “Saadi” being made to listen to the screams of other prisoners apparently being tortured in an adjoining room before being tortured himself. “The Tripoli authorities need to urgently establish exactly what did occur, put in place measures to protect all detainees from abuse, and hold anyone responsible for that kind of treatment to account”.

“Saadi being in al-Hadba subjects him both to the maximum sentence and to the maximum mistreatment”, the lawyer added.

The internationally recognised Libyan parliament and government based in the east of the country are refusing to respect the sentence and insist that Saif should be handed over to the ICC, which has an active arrest warrant in his name. The protesters, who consider the trials politically motivated and unfair, also voiced their opposition to the militia-Islamist coalition controlling Tripoli and large swaths of western Libya.

Libya’s conflict has brought the country’s institutions, including the judiciary and criminal justice system, to near-collapse, with many courts, prosecutors’ offices, and criminal investigation divisions suspending their activities because of worsening security conditions and attacks targeting judges, lawyers, and prosecutors. Saif al-Islam was not present at the court but appeared via video at the start of the proceedings.

Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi (C), former prime minister in the Gadhafi regime, and other Gadhafi regime officials sit behind bars during a verdict hearing at a courtroom in Tripoli, Libya, July 28, 2015. The court which convicted al-Islam is affiliated with the government which is based in Tripoli.