Gaddafi Supporters Rise Against ICC’s Decision to Put Saif al-Islam On Trial

 Judge Chile Eboe-Osuji, presiding judge on the appeal regarding the admissibility of the case against Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi, on 9 March 2020 at the International Criminal Court in The Hague (Netherlands) (© ICC-CPI)
Judge Chile Eboe-Osuji, presiding judge on the appeal regarding the admissibility of the case against Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi, on 9 March 2020 at the International Criminal Court in The Hague (Netherlands) (© ICC-CPI)
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Gaddafi Supporters Rise Against ICC’s Decision to Put Saif al-Islam On Trial

 Judge Chile Eboe-Osuji, presiding judge on the appeal regarding the admissibility of the case against Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi, on 9 March 2020 at the International Criminal Court in The Hague (Netherlands) (© ICC-CPI)
Judge Chile Eboe-Osuji, presiding judge on the appeal regarding the admissibility of the case against Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi, on 9 March 2020 at the International Criminal Court in The Hague (Netherlands) (© ICC-CPI)

The decision of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to reject the appeal submitted by Saif al-Islam, son of late President Muammar Gaddafi, before The Hague, angered many Libyans, especially supporters of the former regime who stressed that local laws “prevent the extradition of Libyans to foreign countries.”

The Appeals Chamber of ICC unanimously confirmed on Monday the admissibility of the case against Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi before the Court and rejected his appeal against the Pre-Trial Chamber’s decision dismissing his challenge to the admissibility of this case.

In this regard, Issa Abd al-Qayyum, a Libyan political analyst, said that the decision “has no effect at the local level for several reasons, mainly because Libya has not signed the Court’s protocol, and therefore it is not a party to it.”

In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, he explained: “The constitutional declaration and Libyan laws since the monarchy did not allow extradition of Libyans to foreign countries.”

He also pointed to “a popular refusal to surrender Saif al-Islam, given that he had previously appeared before a Libyan court.”

In a statement, the ICC said that having considered “the submissions of the Defense, the Prosecutor, the victims, Libya’s government and others, the Appeals Chamber found that the Pre-Trial Chamber did not err in concluding that the Libyan judgment of 28 July 2015 against Saif Gaddafi was rendered in absentia.”

It added that this was also supported by the Libyan Government’s submissions to the ICC.

“Thus, under Libyan Law, the Tripoli Court’s judgment cannot be considered final. The Appeals Chamber further agreed with Pre-Trial Chamber I’s decision that the Libyan Law No. 6 (2015) in respect of amnesty is not applicable to the crimes for which Saif Gaddafi was convicted by the Tripoli Court. Accordingly, the Appeals Chamber rejects Mr Gaddafi's appeal,” the ICC explained in the statement.

Mohamed Lamloum, Minister of Justice of the Libyan National Accord government, had called, during his participation in the sessions of the Appeals Chamber of the ICC on November 10, last year, to “hold Saif al-Islam accountable for the charges against him.”

But Abd al-Qayyum responded to the National Accord government’s insistence on trying Saif al-Gaddafi before the ICC, saying that it was a “flawed act, which was criticized by legal and human rights groups, and a political decision to serve the government’s survival in power.”



Gaza Civil Defense Says Israeli Strikes Kill at Least 29

A Palestinian girl, wounded in an Israeli strike that killed people, who gathered to collect water from a distribution point, according to medics, receives treatment at Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip July 13, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer
A Palestinian girl, wounded in an Israeli strike that killed people, who gathered to collect water from a distribution point, according to medics, receives treatment at Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip July 13, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer
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Gaza Civil Defense Says Israeli Strikes Kill at Least 29

A Palestinian girl, wounded in an Israeli strike that killed people, who gathered to collect water from a distribution point, according to medics, receives treatment at Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip July 13, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer
A Palestinian girl, wounded in an Israeli strike that killed people, who gathered to collect water from a distribution point, according to medics, receives treatment at Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip July 13, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer

Gaza's civil defense agency said Israeli airstrikes on Sunday killed at least 29 Palestinians, including six children near a water distribution point.

The attacks came with apparent deadlock in a week of indirect talks in Qatar between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas for a ceasefire in the territory.

Civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that Gaza City was hit by several strikes overnight and in the early morning, killing eight, "including women and children" and wounding others.

An Israeli airstrike hit a family home near the Nuseirat refugee camp, south of Gaza City, resulting in "10 martyrs and several injured", Bassal said.

In central Gaza, six children were among eight people killed when a drone "hit a potable water distribution point in an area for displaced people" in the Nuseirat camp, he added.

Several other people were wounded, he said.

In the territory's south, three people were killed when Israeli jets hit a tent sheltering displaced Palestinians in the coastal Al-Mawasi area, according to the civil defense spokesman.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which has recently intensified its operations across Gaza, more than 21 months into the war triggered by Hamas's October 2023 attack.

On Saturday, the military said fighter jets had hit more than 35 "Hamas terror targets" around Beit Hanun in northern Gaza.

The vast majority of Gaza's population of more than two million people have been displaced at least once during the war, which has created dire humanitarian conditions in the territory.

Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify tolls and details provided by the civil defense agency and other parties.