Skip to main content

Libya will try Gaddafi's son fairly: ICC prosecutor

Saif al-Islam Qaddafi
(Reuters) - Libya will make a point of giving Muammar Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam a fair trial to show the world it is no longer a tinpot dictatorship, the International Criminal Court's prosecutor said on Thursday.

Luis Moreno-Ocampo has said he will not demand that Saif al-Islam be handed over to the Hague to face charges of crimes against humanity even though he has no guarantee that a Libyan trial would be fully fair.

In a Reuters interview, he said he believed Libya would still put together a convincing trial and not a whitewash.

"They are committed to doing something very good," Moreno-Ocampo said in Tripoli after meetings with Libyan officials following Saif al-Islam's capture on Saturday.

"They want to show the world that this is a serious country with smart people and they can do a good job. It's an issue of national pride. I think you should not distrust them so easily."

The National Transitional Council (NTC), which led the revolt that toppled Gaddafi in August and has ruled the country since his fall, has repeatedly said it will not hand over Saif al-Islam and will ensure that he faces a fair trial in Libya.


Source: Reuters, November 24, 2011

Related articles:
Nov 22, 2011
(Reuters) - The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor conceded Tuesday that the captured son of Muammar Gaddafi may be tried in Libya rather than in The Hague, meaning he faces the death penalty if convicted. ...
Nov 21, 2011
The International Criminal Court at The Hague indicted the younger Gaddafi for crimes against humanity relating to allegations that he ordered the killing of demonstrators after February's uprising. But Libyans want to try him ...
Nov 19, 2011
The West urged Libya's new rulers to give Saif al-Islam a fair trial and work with the International Criminal Court to bring him to justice, fearing he might suffer the same fate as his father, who was beaten and shot dead after his ...

Comments

Most viewed (Last 7 days)

Tennessee executes Harold Wayne Nichols

Thirty-seven years after confessing to a series of rapes and the murder of Karen Pulley, Nichols expressed remorse in final words Strapped to a gurney in the execution chamber at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution Thursday morning, Harold Wayne Nichols made a final statement.  “To the people I’ve harmed, I’m sorry,” he said, according to prison officials and media witnesses. “To my family, know that I love you. I know where I’m going to. I’m ready to go home.”

China | Former Chinese senior banker Bai Tianhui executed for taking US$155 million in bribes

Bai is the second senior figure from Huarong to be put to death for corruption following the execution of Lai Xiaomin in 2021 China has executed a former senior banker who was found guilty of taking more than 1.1 billion yuan (US$155 million) in bribes. Bai Tianhui, the former general manager of the asset management firm China Huarong International Holdings, was executed on Tuesday after the Supreme People’s Court approved the sentence, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Burkina Faso to bring back death penalty

Burkina Faso's military rulers will bring back the death penalty, which was abolished in 2018, the country's Council of Ministers announced on Thursday. "This draft penal code reinstates the death penalty for a number of offences, including high treason, acts of terrorism, acts of espionage, among others," stated the information service of the Burkinabe government. Burkina Faso last carried out an execution in 1988.

Oklahoma board recommends clemency for inmate set to be executed next week

A voting board in Oklahoma decided Wednesday to recommend clemency for Tremane Wood, a death row inmate who is scheduled to receive a lethal injection next week at the state penitentiary in McAlester.  Wood, 46, faces execution for his conviction in the 2001 murder of Ronnie Wipf, a migrant farmworker, at an Oklahoma City hotel on New Year's Eve, court records show. The recommendation was decided in a 3-2 vote by the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board, consisting of five members appointed by either the governor or the state's top judicial official, according to CBS News affiliate KWTV. Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Sitt will consider the recommendation as he weighs whether to grant or deny Wood's clemency request, which would mean sparing him from execution and reducing his sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Iran | Child Bride Saved from the Gallows After Blood Money Raised Through Donations, Charities

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); December 9, 2025: Goli Kouhkan, a 25-year-old undocumented Baluch child bride who was scheduled to be executed within weeks, has been saved from the gallows after the diya (blood money) was raised in time. According to the judiciary’s Mizan News Agency , the plaintiffs in the case of Goli Kouhkan, have agreed to forgo their right to execution as retribution. In a video, the victim’s parents are seen signing the relevant documents. Goli’s lawyer, Parand Gharahdaghi, confirmed in a social media post that the original 10 billion (approx. 100,000 euros) toman diya was reduced to 8 billion tomans (approx. 80,000 euros) and had been raised through donations and charities.

Who Gets Hanged in Singapore?

Singapore’s death penalty has been in the news again.  Enshrined in law in 1975, a decade after the island split from Malaysia and became an independent state, the penalty can see people sentenced to hang for drug trafficking, murder or firearms offenses, among other crimes. Executions have often involved trafficking under the Misuse of Drugs Act, with offenses measured in grams.  Those executed have included people from low-income backgrounds and foreign nationals who are sometimes not fluent in English, according to human rights advocates such as Amnesty International and the International Drug Policy Consortium. 

Afghanistan's Taliban rulers carry out public execution in sports stadium

The man had been convicted of killing 13 members of a family, including children, and was executed by one of their relatives, according to police. Afghanistan's Taliban authorities carried out the public execution of a man on Tuesday convicted of killing 13 members of a family, including several children, earlier this year. Tens of thousands of people attended the execution at a sports stadium in the eastern city of Khost, which the Supreme Court said was the eleventh since the Taliban seized power in 2021 in the wake of the chaotic withdrawal of US and NATO forces.

Afghanistan | Two Sons Of Executed Man Also Face Death Penalty, Says Taliban

The Taliban governor’s spokesperson in Khost said on Tuesday that two sons of a man executed earlier that day have also been sentenced to death. Their executions, he said, have been postponed because the heir of the victims is not currently in Afghanistan. Mostaghfer Gurbaz, spokesperson for the Taliban governor in Khost, also released details of the charges against the man executed on Tuesday, identified as Mangal. He said Mangal was accused of killing members of a family.

Utah | Ralph Menzies dies on death row less than 3 months after his execution was called off

Judge was set to consider arguments in December about Menzies’ mental fitness  Ralph Menzies, who spent more than 3 decades on Utah’s death row for the 1986 murder of Maurine Hunsaker, has died.  Menzies, 67, died of “presumed natural causes at a local hospital” Wednesday afternoon, according to the Utah Department of Corrections.  Matt Hunsaker, Maurine Hunsaker’s son, said Menzies’ death “was a complete surprise.”  “First off, I’d say that I’m numb. And second off, I would say, grateful,” Hunsaker told Utah News Dispatch. “I’m grateful that my family does not have to endure this for the holidays.” 

USA | Should Medical Research Regulations and Informed Consent Principles Apply to States’ Use of Experimental Execution Methods?

New drugs and med­ical treat­ments under­go rig­or­ous test­ing to ensure they are safe and effec­tive for pub­lic use. Under fed­er­al and state reg­u­la­tions, this test­ing typ­i­cal­ly involves clin­i­cal tri­als with human sub­jects, who face sig­nif­i­cant health and safe­ty risks as the first peo­ple exposed to exper­i­men­tal treat­ments. That is why the law requires them to be ful­ly informed of the poten­tial effects and give their vol­un­tary con­sent to par­tic­i­pate in trials. Yet these reg­u­la­tions have not been fol­lowed when states seek to use nov­el and untest­ed exe­cu­tion meth­ods — sub­ject­ing pris­on­ers to poten­tial­ly tor­tur­ous and uncon­sti­tu­tion­al­ly painful deaths. Some experts and advo­cates argue that states must be bound by the eth­i­cal and human rights prin­ci­ples of bio­med­ical research before using these meth­ods on prisoners.