Saif Gadhafi in Custoday
Now Awaiting Trial
ISLAM NEWSROOM - UPDATE: Gadhafi's Son Saif Al-Islam Gadhafi Captured
To Face Firing Squad - For Role Against 2011 Revolution in Libya
The court in Tripoli, Libya held trial on a number of ex-regime officials of former Libyan ruler Mummar Gadhafi on Tuesday — including Gadhafi’s son, Saif Al-Islam Gadhafi (in absentia) — the U.N. Human Rights office is critical of these precedings.
Gadhafi’s son, Saif Al-Islam was ordered to face a firing squad for the role he play trying to put down the open rebellion against the government of Libya and his father, Mummar Gadhafi in the 2011 revolution, that eventually led to his father being rousted.
A number of other Gadhafi officials were sentenced to death, including -- Libyan spy chief Abdullah Al-Senusi, former Prime Minister Al Mahmudi Al-Baghdadi and the former chief of intelligence, Buzeid Dorda.
Mummar's son Saif Al-Islam Gadhafi was not present at the trial due to being held captive by a military group in the northwest part of the country in Zintan.
Captured in 2011, Saif Al-Islam Gadhafi has been held there since then. He faces charges of suppressing the uprising along with charges for killing protesters - a crime worthy of the death penalty there.
What will happen to him next is not entirely clear at that point, because the militia holding him in Zintan does not accept or recognize the current government in Tripoli nor its court rulings. The militia there also has ceased any cooperation with such proceedings.
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights to the press on Friday it is, "deeply disturbed" over events taking place including verdicts, sentences and orders for death penalties, claiming such trials fail to meet international standards set for such trials.
Siting failure to, "..establish individual criminal responsibility related to specific crimes", says the office of the U.N." "There were also serious issues relating to access to lawyers, claims of ill-treatment, and trials conducted in absentia.
"It is crucial to ensure accountability for serious human rights violations. However this needs to be done with scrupulous adherence to international fair trial standards and with full respect for the rights of the defendants. Failing this, injustice is only compounded."
The office urged Libya to pass legal reforms and ensure that the verdicts could be appealed.
Saif Al-Islam Gadhafi was once considered the heir apparent to his father, who ruled harshly over Libya for more than 30 years.
Prior to the 2011 Libyan civil war, Saif Al-Islam was believed to be a moderate, especially compared to his father.
Saif Al-Islam's younger brother who had a similar name, Saif al-Arab Gadhafi, was killed by a NATO strike May 2011.
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