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File photo of Saif Gaddafi. AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews
Libya

Gaddafi's son: 'no justice' in trial if evidence from torture is used

Eldest son of the late dictator says he cannot get a fair trial in Libya.

LAWYERS FOR COLONEL Gaddafi’s eldest son Saif al-Islam Gaddafi have called for him to face trial at the Hague rather than in Libya over concerns he will not get a fair trial.

Gaddafi is due to stand trial for allegedly ordering killings during the uprising that forced his father from power in August 2011.

Early this year, the International Criminal Court said it would respect Libyan leaders’ wishes to try Gaddafi in his own country, but sought assurances he would receive a fair trial.

In court documents filed by his lawyers, Gaddafi says that there is no chance of a fair trial if the prosecution uses information gleaned through torture:

There will certainly be no justice in the case if the prosecution is based on evidence from torture.
I am not afraid to die but if you execute me after such a trial you should just call it murder.

Meanwhile, the ICC is investigating the detention of its staff in Libya earlier this summer.

Four International Criminal Court staff members were released in early July after being detained for a month by Libyan authorities who had accused them of smuggling documents to Saif al-Islam Gaddafi.

He was arrested in mid-November 2011 alongside two of his aides as they attempted to smuggle him out of the country via a south Libyan city.

- Additional reporting by the AP

Amnesty fact-finding mission to Libya uncovers torture, killings >

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