<< Go back

Local ICC man condemns any trial of Saif Al-Islam’s lawyers

2013-06-15 – www.sherwestravel.com

By Ashraf Abdul Wahab

The International Criminal Court is still awaiting evidence that the defence team it assigned to Saif Al-Islam sought to pass secret documents to him during a client meeting last year.

In an exclusive interview with the Libya Herald, Dr Fadi El-Abdallah, the ICC’s local representative has said that the ICC had asked Libya to provide details of the allegations against the lawyers it had appointed to represent Saif. But almost a year later, nothing had been received. Instead it appeared that Libya was planning to prosecute the ICC people in their absence.

Australian lawyer Melinda Taylor and three colleagues were detained last June for 26 days, accused of trying to give Saif documents which, according to former prime minister Abdurrahim Al-Kib, speaking at the time, “compromise the national security of Libya.”

It has since been indicated that a case is to be brought against Taylor and her female interpreter, Helene Assaf, who were the only two members of the ICC team allowed to see their client. Since it seems highly unlikely that any of the accused will return to Libya, they will be tried in absentia.

Abdallah dismissed the idea of a such a prosecution: “It is not possible to try the ICC team, because they have immunity. It is not even permitted to interrogate them, until after their immunity has been lifted or they are interrogated by the ICC”. Therefore the proposed trial, about which, he said, the ICC had received no formal notification, was illegal. The ICC would take no part in any such proceedings. He also denied that Taylor and her team had done anything wrong.

Abdallah went on to condemn the detention of the Australian and her colleagues. Not only they been unable to see Saif in private but after being accused of passing him coded messages, their imprisonment had also been illegal because of their quasi-diplomatic immunity.