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| Son of Muammar el-Qaddafi Sentenced to Death in Libya | Son of Muammar el-Qaddafi Sentenced to Death in Libya |
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| CAIRO — A court in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, on Tuesday sentenced Seif al-Islam el-Qaddafi, a son of the former dictator Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, to death in an act of retribution that had been the urgent demand of the millions of Libyans who rose up against the family’s rule four years ago. | CAIRO — A court in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, on Tuesday sentenced Seif al-Islam el-Qaddafi, a son of the former dictator Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, to death in an act of retribution that had been the urgent demand of the millions of Libyans who rose up against the family’s rule four years ago. |
| The sentence, however, was made moot by the civil strife that has since engulfed the country. Mr. Qaddafi was sentenced in absentia because he is being held captive by a militia in the northwestern city of Zintan, and the group holding him does not recognize the authority of the Tripoli government or its courts. Most Libyans are now so preoccupied with the country’s internal conflicts that they long ago stopped paying attention to the trial or to the Qaddafis. | The sentence, however, was made moot by the civil strife that has since engulfed the country. Mr. Qaddafi was sentenced in absentia because he is being held captive by a militia in the northwestern city of Zintan, and the group holding him does not recognize the authority of the Tripoli government or its courts. Most Libyans are now so preoccupied with the country’s internal conflicts that they long ago stopped paying attention to the trial or to the Qaddafis. |
| The Libyan news media said eight other senior Qaddafi government officials who are believed to be in the custody of the court had also been sentenced to death by firing squad. Those defendants included Colonel Qaddafi’s former spy chief, Abdullah al-Senussi, and a former prime minister, Al-Baghdadi Ali al-Mahmoudi. All those sentenced to death were convicted of directing war crimes against Libyans during the uprising against Colonel Qaddafi in 2011. | |
| The death sentences had been expected. The news reports said eight others had been sentenced to life in prison, seven had been sentenced to 12 years and four had been acquitted. All were charged with crimes for their roles in the Qaddafi government. All the sentences are subject to appeal, although it is hard to know for certain who will control Tripoli and its courts by the time appeals are heard. | The death sentences had been expected. The news reports said eight others had been sentenced to life in prison, seven had been sentenced to 12 years and four had been acquitted. All were charged with crimes for their roles in the Qaddafi government. All the sentences are subject to appeal, although it is hard to know for certain who will control Tripoli and its courts by the time appeals are heard. |
| The most powerful adviser and presumed successor to his father before the uprising, Mr. Qaddafi was widely viewed in the West as a reformer who was gradually opening up Libya’s economy and softening its dictatorship. But after the start of the uprising, Mr. Qaddafi angrily rallied Libyans to back his father and fiercely denounced his opponents as criminals and “rats.” | The most powerful adviser and presumed successor to his father before the uprising, Mr. Qaddafi was widely viewed in the West as a reformer who was gradually opening up Libya’s economy and softening its dictatorship. But after the start of the uprising, Mr. Qaddafi angrily rallied Libyans to back his father and fiercely denounced his opponents as criminals and “rats.” |
| After his father’s ouster, a militia from Zintan captured Mr. Qaddafi as he tried to escape the country disguised as a Bedouin in a caravan moving south through the desert. | After his father’s ouster, a militia from Zintan captured Mr. Qaddafi as he tried to escape the country disguised as a Bedouin in a caravan moving south through the desert. |
| The group took him back to their city, holding him as their own prisoner and refusing to release him to any interim government. | The group took him back to their city, holding him as their own prisoner and refusing to release him to any interim government. |
| The International Criminal Court sought to extradite Mr. Qaddafi for trial in The Hague, in part because of concerns that he could not receive a fair trial in Libya. None of the successive transitional governments in Libya have been able to ensure the security of judges, prisoners, courts or even a legislature against the predations of various armed groups. And the emotions of the uprising made a death sentence appear almost a foregone conclusion. | The International Criminal Court sought to extradite Mr. Qaddafi for trial in The Hague, in part because of concerns that he could not receive a fair trial in Libya. None of the successive transitional governments in Libya have been able to ensure the security of judges, prisoners, courts or even a legislature against the predations of various armed groups. And the emotions of the uprising made a death sentence appear almost a foregone conclusion. |
| The Libyan authorities refused to extradite him, however, and the trial began in the spring of 2014. Mr. Qaddafi initially appeared in the courtroom via a video link from Zintan. But by the late summer of 2014, the proceedings had grown more complicated because Libya had split into a civil conflict between two rival coalitions. | The Libyan authorities refused to extradite him, however, and the trial began in the spring of 2014. Mr. Qaddafi initially appeared in the courtroom via a video link from Zintan. But by the late summer of 2014, the proceedings had grown more complicated because Libya had split into a civil conflict between two rival coalitions. |
| Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director for Human Rights Watch, said in a statement on Tuesday that the trial had been “plagued by persistent, credible allegations of fair trial breaches.” Among the allegations the rights group cited was that the defendants were unable to consult lawyers. | Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director for Human Rights Watch, said in a statement on Tuesday that the trial had been “plagued by persistent, credible allegations of fair trial breaches.” Among the allegations the rights group cited was that the defendants were unable to consult lawyers. |
| “There are serious questions about whether judges and prosecutors can be truly independent where utter lawlessness prevails and certain groups are unashamedly shielded from justice,” Mr. Stork said in the statement. | “There are serious questions about whether judges and prosecutors can be truly independent where utter lawlessness prevails and certain groups are unashamedly shielded from justice,” Mr. Stork said in the statement. |
| Mr. Senussi, Colonel Qaddafi’s longtime intelligence chief, was seen as such a central figure in the regime that Libya paid Mauritania $200 million to secure his extradition after he was arrested there. He was referred to as the country’s “black box,” and would almost certainly know the inside story about Libya’s sponsorship of years of violence at home and abroad, including the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988 and the bombing of a French airliner, UTA Flight 772, over Niger in 1989. | |
| Rodney Dixon, one of Mr. Senussi’s lawyers at the International Criminal Court, said by telephone that they had information that Mr. Senussi had been mistreated while in prison and had photos showing bruising on his head and face. Mr. Dixon said he had tried numerous times to see his client but had been refused. |