A court in Libya has sentenced Col Muammar Gaddafi’s son, Saif al-Islam to death, and eight others to death over war crimes linked to the 2011 revolution.<\/p>\n
They were on trial along with dozens of other close associates of the deposed leader, accused of suppressing protests during the uprising.<\/p>\n
Saif al-Islam was not present in court and gave evidence via video link.<\/p>\n
He is being held by a former rebel group from the town of Zintan that refuses to release him.<\/p>\n
Since the overthrow of Gaddafi, Libya has suffered from weak governance, with armed protesters blocking oil exports and former revolutionary fighters refusing to hand over their weapons.<\/p>\n
Human rights organizations have also expressed concern over the fairness of the North African state\u2019s justice system.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo far, there have been problems with legal representation. Many of those on trial did not a have a lawyer from the beginning \u2013 the cornerstone of a fair trial,\u201d said Hanan Salah, Libya researcher with Human Rights Watch.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf they don\u2019t get fair trials then it casts doubt over whether the new Libya is not about selective justice.\u201d<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Credit: Reuters & BBC<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A court in Libya has sentenced Col Muammar Gaddafi’s son, Saif al-Islam to death, and eight others to death over war crimes linked to the 2011 revolution. They were on trial along with dozens of other close associates of the deposed leader, accused of suppressing protests during the uprising. Saif al-Islam was not present in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":138391,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[14],"yoast_head":"\n