Originally published on the CGS blog on April 19, 2012.
Luis Moreno-Ocampo, chief prosecutor of the International Court (ICC), met yesterday with Libyan officials who reiterated their refusal to hand over Saif Gaddafi to the ICC.
Saif, along with his late father Muammar Gaddafi and Gaddafi’s former intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senoussi, have been charged by the Court with crimes against humanity following an investigation last spring after the U.N. Security Council referred the situation in Libya to the ICC. The new Libyan government had previously pledged to work with the ICC and hand over the indictees so they could face trial in The Hague. Since then, however, Libya had pushed to keep Saif in Libya and try him there, while the ICC had insisted he be turned over to the Court.
But Prosecutor Ocampo sounded a different note yesterday after meeting with Libyan leaders, stating “”They believe they can do it, it’s not my call. The decision here is for the judges, not for me.” Despite the fact that the ICC should have jurisdiction in the Saif Gaddafi case due to the Security Council referral, Ocampo added that “The legal system here is okay… The fact that we are discussing how to do justice – if the Libyans do it or the ICC does it – shows that the case is moving. One year ago it was a mess, today we are discussing legal issues, we are organizing, everything is different.”
We’ll continue to keep you updated on the Saif Gaddafi situation as events unfold.
