Court sentences Gadhafi son to death for 2011 killings
A court in Libya on Tuesday sentenced a son of Moammar
Gadhafi to death by firing squad after convicting him of murder and inciting
genocide during the country's 2011 civil war.
It is unlikely, however, that the sentence against Seif
al-Islam Gadhafi will be carried out anytime soon, as a militia in western
Libya has refused to hand him over to the government for the past four years, reports dpa.
The Tripoli court sentenced to death eight others, including
former Libyan spy chief Abdullah al-Senoussi, who is in their custody. Also
sentenced to death were foreign intelligence chief Abuzed Omar-Dorda and
Gadhafi's former Prime Minister Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi.
The rulings can be appealed, and a defense lawyer in the
case, Ali Aldaa, said he would challenge it before the Libyan Supreme Court.
The Tripoli-based top court has in the past ruled the Tobruk government as
illegitimate, raising questions over whether it is under pressure from militias
that dominate the city.
Only 29 of the 38 Gadhafi-era figures were present in court.
Six others were sentenced to life in prison and four were cleared of charges.
U.S.-based Human Rights Watch said the trial was
"undermined by serious due process violations," and called on the
Libyan Supreme Court to independently review the verdict. Other international
organizations, including the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights and the
Council of Europe, also condemned the verdict.
The Council of Europe said the case should have been turned
over to the International Criminal Court at The Hague, which wants Seif
al-Islam on charges of crimes against humanity.
Libya has slid into chaos since the overthrow and killing of
Gadhafi, who ruled the country for four decades. It is now bitterly divided
between an elected parliament and government cornered in the country's east,
with little power on the ground, and an Islamist militia-backed government in
the west that has seized the capital, Tripoli.
Since the end of the civil war, Seif al-Islam has been held
by a militia in Zintan, which is allied with the Tobruk-based internationally
recognized government against the Tripoli one. The court that convicted him is
affiliated with the Tripoli-based government.
During the trial, Seif al-Islam was accused of recruiting
mercenaries who were given Libyan nationality, planning and carrying out
attacks on civilian targets from the air, forming armed groups and shooting
into crowds of demonstrators. Among the charges he was convicted of were
incitement of murder and rape.
Hundreds of militias in Libya are battling for power and
turf in a lawless environment has allowed human traffickers and kidnappers to
flourish. Meanwhile, extremists returning from fighting in the Syrian civil war
have created a local affiliate of the Islamic State group, taking territory and
beheading captives.
The U.N. envoy for Libya has urged the Islamist-led
government in Tripoli to sign a peace deal that would establish a unity
government. Members of the Tobruk government and regional leaders signed the
unity accord in Morocco on July 11.
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