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ZINTAN. — There was confusion yesterday over the trial of Seif al-Islam, son of slain Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, after a scheduled hearing on charges of threatening national security did not take place.
Seif, whose charges stem from the 2011 uprising that ousted his father, last appeared in court in the western city of Zintan on December 12.
His lawyer said then that the next hearing was scheduled for yesterday, and prosecution spokesman Seddik al-Sour confirmed that as recently as Wednesday.
But Sour retracted that yesterday. He said the hearing had actually been scheduled for last Thursday but had then been postponed because it coincided with voting for an assembly tasked with drafting a new constitution.
“It is up to the Zintan court to fix a new hearing date,” he said.
On October 24, a Tripoli court indicted Seif and 36 other Gaddafi aides for a raft of alleged offences during the uprising.
But Zintan rebels refused to have him transferred to the capital, despite a request from Libya’s prosecutor general and even though the authorities say his jail is under state control.
Earlier this month, Human Rights Watch called on Libyan authorities to provide proper defence counsel to Seif and his co-defendants.
The New York-based watchdog said that during visits by its staff last month, both Seif and former spy chief Abdullah Senussi had complained they had no representation at all during interrogations. — AFP.
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