IMPORTANT UPDATE:
The ICC Denies Aisha Gaddafi’s Appeal On Behalf Of Saif Al IslamThis is a warning in my view and a call for more intensive action to have Saif released to thwart NATO’s agenda.
Please support Saif by sending this appeal to the targets listed:
We Demand Saif Al Islam Gaddafi’s Immediate Release@cdoebblercurtis doebbler
Libyan lawyers say neither#Libya nor the ICC can try Saif al-islam fairly. They say he should be released according to laws of war.
1 hour agovia webAlexandra Valiente
Libya 360°
Viva Libya!
Christian Lowe
ALGIERS | Feb 1, 2012
The daughter of Libya’s former leader Muammar Gaddafi asked on Tuesday to make representations to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to help her brother Saif al-Islam, who is in a Libyan jail awaiting trial on rape and murder charges.
Aisha Gaddafi wants to hand information to the court about the welfare of Saif al-Islam, who has also been indicted by the ICC on charges of crimes against humanity dating from Libya’s civil war last year.
Supporters of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, who was captured disguised as a Bedouin in the Sahara desert in November, say they doubt he will be given a fair trial in Libya. They say he should be tried instead by the ICC in The Hague.
If he is found guilty by a Libyan court, Saif al-Islam faces the death penalty while if the court in the Hague convicts him the most he can be given is a prison term.
A document submitted to the ICC for Aisha Gaddafi suggested that the Libyan authorities were unwilling to let any foreign lawyer act for Saif al-Islam.
“Aisha Gaddafi wishes to protect the interests of her brother,” said the document, which was seen by Reuters.
Saif al-Islam, the most high-profile of Muammar Gaddafi’s sons, is the subject of wrangling between the new Libyan authorities and the ICC on where he should be tried.
Libya’s ruling National Transitional Council says he should be tried at home and that he will be given a fair hearing. But the ICC has reserved the right to insist that he be sent to the Hague.
The ICC has jurisdiction over the case because it issued a warrant last year for the arrest of Muammar Gaddafi, Saif al-Islam, and the Libyan leader’s intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi.
All three were indicted on charges of crimes against humanity. The charges related to failed attempts by Libyan security forces to put down a revolt last year which eventually ended Gaddafi’s 42-year rule.
Aisha Gaddafi asked the court to be able to give information to the ICC about attempts she has made to contact Saif al-Islam, and two telephone interviews with Libya’s deputy prosecutor, showed the document, which was signed by her lawyer Nicholas Kaufman.
“From these telephone conversations, it may be inferred that the Libyan authorities who purport to be investigating and prosecuting Saif al-Islam Gaddafi refuse to deal with international legal counsel,” Kaufman said in the document.
The information, which was not disclosed in the document, would be filed confidentially, Kaufman said.
Muammar Gaddafi was killed after rebel fighters captured him near his hometown of Sirte in October. His intelligence chief is reported to have been captured but his location is unknown.
Saif al-Islam is being held in the town of Zintan, southwest of the Libyan capital, which is the base of the militia which captured him.
Aisha Gaddafi, along with her mother Safiya, her brother Hannibal, her half-brother Mohammed and other family members, fled Libya around the time that rebel forces took control of the capital in August.
They are in an unknown location in the neighbouring country of Algeria after the government there took them in on what it said were humanitarian grounds.
Aisha Gaddafi Wishes to Intervene As Amicus Curiae
In an application filed on January 31st, Aisha Gaddafi requests to intervene before the International Criminal Court (ICC) in order to submit amicus curiae observations regarding her brother Saif al-Islam.
In the application, Aisha Gaddafi’s lawyer Nick Kaufman states his client’s wish to submit information that “will assist the Pre-Trial Chamber in determining whether the Libyan authorities truly desire to provide Saif al-Islam Gaddafi with effective legal representation or to afford him a fair trial”.
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi was arrested in the South of Libya on November 19, 2011. ICC has issued an international arrest warrant against him for crimes against humanity committed after February 15, 2011.
Tripoli intends to try Gaddafi in Libya. To do so, the Libyan judiciary must demonstrate to the ICC judges its ability to prosecute him « in fair and credible proceedings ».
On January 20, Libyan authorities submitted a confidential report to ICC’s Pre-trial Chamber regarding the matter. ICC Prosecutor and the Office of Public Counsel for the Defence (OPCD) are expected to file their observations in response before February 2nd.
Aisha Gaddafi has had “two telephone conversations in Arabic with the Deputy-Prosecutor of Libya – Mr. Abd al-Majid Sa’ad”, the application states. “From these telephone conversations, it may be inferred that the Libyan authorities who purport to be investigating and prosecuting Saif al-Islam Gaddafi refuse to deal with international legal counsel”.
Since he was incarcerated in November 2011, Saif Gaddafi received visits of delegates from the Red Cross and Human Rights Watch in his jail in Zenten. According to HRW’s representative Fred Abrahams, “Libyan authorities denied Saif al-Islam the right to get a Defence lawyer as long as he would not be transferred to a secured prison in Tripoli”.
Aisha Gaddafi went into exile in Algeria in August 2011.
Copyright © 2012 Hirondelle News Agency. All rights reserved.
Also See:
We Demand Saif Al Islam Gaddafi’s Immediate Release
We Demand Proof That Saif Al Islam Gaddafi And Abdullah Al Senussi Are Alive And That They Have Immediate Access To The Legal Counsel Of Their Choice
Urgent Appeal On Behalf Of The Gaddafi Family And Saif Al Islam Gaddafi
Countering The Propaganda That Saif Is Safe, Exonerated From Crimes And Being Taken Out Of The Country For Medical Treatment
Why Fake Green News Sites Lie About Saif Al Islam’s Status And Sabotage Efforts To Save Him
Zintan Rebel Commander Intends To Ensure No Gaddafi Ever Holds A Position Of Power In Libya
Feb17th Propaganda About Saif Al Islam’s Status Vs The Facts
No Official Decision Announced Regarding The Case Of Saif Al Islam
Saif Al Islam Still In Danger: Human Rights Hell In The “New Libya”
The Troubling Case Of Saif Gaddafi Nick Kaufman: The ICC, The Murder Of Muammar Gaddafi And Saif Al Islam’s Case
The NTC Are Moving Ahead With Plans To Have Saif’s Trial In Tripoli
Soros Backed HRW Ask That Saif Have Access To A Lawyer
NATO-NTC Mercenaries Admit Saif Will Not Receive A Fair Trial!
The Rebels Have Refused To Provide Proof That Saif Al Islam Is Alive
Was Human Rights Watch’s Visit To Saif An Intelligence Gathering Exercise?
ICC Demands NTC Hand Over Saif Gaddafi
The ICC Hand Saif Gaddafi Over To The NTC For Trial And Sentencing
Zangetna Issue Urgent Appeal On Behalf Of Saif Al Islam Gaddafi
The Gaddafi Family Take Legal Action To Protect Saif Al Islam
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