EX-LIBYAN dictator Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's son has
been sentenced to death by firing squad by a Libyan court for war crimes during
the 2011 revolution.
Saif
al-Islam Gaddafi - which means Sword of Islam - was given the death sentence
along with eight others at a court in Libya over war crimes linked to the
revolution four-years-ago.
The second son of the late Gaddafi - who studied for a PhD at the London School of
Economics - was on trial with 36 others also in the Colonel's inner circle,
accused of suppressing protests during the uprising.
The
43-year-old appeared in court by video link from the town of Zintan in Libya
where he has been held since 2011 by a former rebel group who refuse to release
him.
Also
sentenced to death today was Gaddafi's former head of intelligence, Abdallah
al-Senousi and former Prime Minister Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi.
The
only member of the Gaddafi family left in Libya following the revolution, Saif
al-Islam was previously entertained by the Royal family at Buckingham Palace
and at Windsor Castle.
Prosecutors
say he was part of his father's plans to "quell, by all means, the
civilian demonstrations against the Gaddafi regime".
Today's
trial outcome drew swift criticism abroad, with Human Rights Watch and a
prominent international lawyer saying it was riddled with legal flaws and
carried out amid widespread lawlessness undermining the credibility of the
judiciary.
New
York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said defence lawyers lacked full and timely
access to case files and several had been unable to meet with clients in
private while two quit after receiving threats.
Joe
Stork, HRW's deputy Middle East and North Africa director said: "There are
serious questions about whether judges and prosecutors can be truly independent
where utter lawlessness prevails and certain groups are unashamedly shielded
from justice.
"This
trial was held in the midst of an armed conflict and a country divided by war
where impunity has become the norm.
"The
victims of the serious crimes committed during the 2011 uprising deserve
justice, but that can only be delivered through fair and transparent proceedings."
Saif
al-Islam is wanted by the International Crimnal Court for war crimes and crimes
against humanity but allowed Tripoli to carry out the trial, despite the ICC
not allowing the death penalty.
John
Jones, a British lawyer hired to represent Saif al-Islam before the ICC, said a
"show trial" led to the death sentences.
He
said: "The whole thing is illegitimate from start to finish. It's
judicially sanctioned execution."
All
nine facing the death penalty will be given the right to appeal.
Others
on trial over the war crimes have received sentences ranging from five years to
life imprisonment.
Tripoli
is now controlled by a self-declared government set up after an armed faction
called Libya Dawn seized the capital in August, expelling the internationally
recognised government, which then decamped to far eastern Libya.
Fighting
involving remnants of the armed forces, ex-rebel groups, regional tribes and
Islamist militants has sewn chaos in the North African oil-producing country,
thwarting any post-Gaddafi transition towards democracy.
By Alix Culbertson