Gaddafi’s son Saif al-Islam at large in Libya after being released from death row, lawyer says
Muammar Gaddafi’s British-educated son was released from death row in Libya earlier this year, his lawyer said, and now appears to be at large even though he faces charges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity.
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the ousted dictator’s most prominent son, was sentenced to die by firing squad last year after being found guilty of war crimes and was thought to be in prison in the western city of Zintan.
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi in court in Zintan Credit: Reuters
His lawyer, Karim Khan QC, said however that Gaddafi had been released in April under an amnesty law and was now free in Libya.
“It has been confirmed and is now public that he was given his liberty on April 12,” Mr Khan told France 24. “He is well and safe and he’s in Libya.”
There was no independent confirmation of Mr Khan’s claims from Libya’s UN-backed government but unverified documents appeared to show that the previous justice minister ordered him to be released in April.
If confirmed that Gaddafi has been freed, it would be a remarkable turnaround for the most Western-oriented of Col Gaddafi’s eight children.
The 44-year-old took a PhD at the London School of Economics was well known in British society, where he mingled with Lord Mandelson, the architect Norman Foster and other notables.
Some Western diplomats hoped he would eventually replace his dictator father and lead Libya to economic and political reforms.
But when the Libyan uprising began in 2011 he sided with his father’s regime and vowed to crush the revolt.
He was captured in November 2011, just a few weeks after the elder Gaddafi was killed, and later charged in a Libyan court with war crimes.
The sentence of death handed down by a Tripoli court last year was widely criticised by the UN and human rights groups who said that Gaddafi had not been given a fair trial.
He is still wanted by the ICC to face charges for his role during the Libyan uprising and could potentially be arrested if he tried to travel. International prosecutors allege he was responsible for crimes against humanity and murder during the 2011 conflict.
Mr Khan said he hoped to get the ICC charges dropped under rules that state the international court cannot try a person who has already been put on trial for the same crimes in their own country.
News of his apparent release may stir tensions in Libya, especially as he would have been released by militias in Zintan, a province that is already at odds with other elements of Libya’s new UN-backed unity government.
It is not clear why the previous government would have freed Gaddafi although a reconciliation bill was passed last year in an effort to try to unite the badly-fractured country.
In the same way some Iraqis say they regret the removal of Saddam Hussein because of the chaos that followed, some Libyans now look back more sympathetically at the Gaddafi regime in light of the anarchy in much of Libya.
The release documents from the previous minister of justice also say that elders from the Gaddafi tribe had been petitioning for Gaddafi to be freed.
