Amsterdam:
International Criminal Court judges on Friday rejected Libya's request to annul the international arrest warrant for the son of the late Moammar Gaddafi and let the country's new government try him in Tripoli.
In essence, the ICC found the Libyan government is not capable of holding a fair trial for Saif al-Islam Gaddafi itself, and judges said the country's new leaders are obliged under international law to hand him over to the court in The Hague, Netherlands.
Whether the government in Tripoli will be willing - or able - to transfer Gaddafi to The Hague are both open questions. Gaddafi was captured by a militia group as he was trying to flee to neighbouring Niger in the aftermath of Libya's 20th11 civil war.
With no national army or police in place since the fall of Gaddafi's regime, successive governments have been too weak to secure Saif al-Islam's transfer to Tripoli.
Saif is jailed in the town of Zintan, and the Abu Bakr al-Sadek militia group has itself begun trial proceedings against Saif for charges including insulting the new country's flag and "harming state security."
The Hague court wants him for alleged crimes against humanity in the murder and persecution of protesters in the uprising that ultimately toppled his father's regime in 2011. The Libyan government wants him for somewhat similar charges, though judges also said Friday the charges aren't similar enough to warrant cancelling the international case.
Gaddafi says he is innocent of wrongdoing.
"The Libyan state continues to face substantial difficulties in exercising fully its judicial powers across the entire territory," presiding judge Silvia Fernandez de Gurmendi said in a written summary of Friday's decision.
He added that "Libyan authorities have not been able to secure the transfer of (Gaddafi) into state custody and impediments remain to obtain the necessary evidence, and secure legal representation."
According to filings by defence lawyers at the ICC, Saif al-Islam has said he wants to be tried for alleged war crimes in the Netherlands.
"I am not afraid to die, but if you execute me after such a trial, you should just call it murder," he said.
The Hague court does not have a death penalty.
Although Libya is not a member of the ICC, the case was referred to the court by the U.N. Security Council.
"Libya has until now operated according to the ICC's procedures, as the U.N. Security Council required," said Richard Dicker, international justice director at Human Rights Watch. "By respecting the ICC's judicial process, the authorities will send an important message about their commitment to the rule of law."
Moammar Gaddafi was killed in Sirte, Libya, in October 2011 by victorious rebel forces. Saif was captured a month later in a southern desert region and later moved to Zintan, in the western coastal mountains.
The rest of Saif al-Islam's family, including his mother, his sister, two brothers and others, were granted asylum in Oman in March, moving there from Algeria, where they found refuge during the civil war.
In essence, the ICC found the Libyan government is not capable of holding a fair trial for Saif al-Islam Gaddafi itself, and judges said the country's new leaders are obliged under international law to hand him over to the court in The Hague, Netherlands.
Whether the government in Tripoli will be willing - or able - to transfer Gaddafi to The Hague are both open questions. Gaddafi was captured by a militia group as he was trying to flee to neighbouring Niger in the aftermath of Libya's 20th11 civil war.
With no national army or police in place since the fall of Gaddafi's regime, successive governments have been too weak to secure Saif al-Islam's transfer to Tripoli.
Saif is jailed in the town of Zintan, and the Abu Bakr al-Sadek militia group has itself begun trial proceedings against Saif for charges including insulting the new country's flag and "harming state security."
The Hague court wants him for alleged crimes against humanity in the murder and persecution of protesters in the uprising that ultimately toppled his father's regime in 2011. The Libyan government wants him for somewhat similar charges, though judges also said Friday the charges aren't similar enough to warrant cancelling the international case.
Gaddafi says he is innocent of wrongdoing.
"The Libyan state continues to face substantial difficulties in exercising fully its judicial powers across the entire territory," presiding judge Silvia Fernandez de Gurmendi said in a written summary of Friday's decision.
He added that "Libyan authorities have not been able to secure the transfer of (Gaddafi) into state custody and impediments remain to obtain the necessary evidence, and secure legal representation."
According to filings by defence lawyers at the ICC, Saif al-Islam has said he wants to be tried for alleged war crimes in the Netherlands.
"I am not afraid to die, but if you execute me after such a trial, you should just call it murder," he said.
The Hague court does not have a death penalty.
Although Libya is not a member of the ICC, the case was referred to the court by the U.N. Security Council.
"Libya has until now operated according to the ICC's procedures, as the U.N. Security Council required," said Richard Dicker, international justice director at Human Rights Watch. "By respecting the ICC's judicial process, the authorities will send an important message about their commitment to the rule of law."
Moammar Gaddafi was killed in Sirte, Libya, in October 2011 by victorious rebel forces. Saif was captured a month later in a southern desert region and later moved to Zintan, in the western coastal mountains.
The rest of Saif al-Islam's family, including his mother, his sister, two brothers and others, were granted asylum in Oman in March, moving there from Algeria, where they found refuge during the civil war.
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