Friday , March 29 2024

What next for Saif al-Islam Gaddafi?

Is Saif al-Islam Gaddafi really free?

According to the militia brigade that captured and has detained him since 2011, as well as to one of his lawyers, he is indeed free. However, both parties made a similar claim in July last year. In the end, that appeared not to be true – at least not in the commonly understood sense of being free.

He may have been treated as a “free man”, in theory, over the past year by the brigade holding him. But there was no evidence then, nor any today, that he has ever left the outskirts of Zintan, where he has been held.

Why the announcement of his release now?

Libya and its militia politics is nothing if not complicated and is in a permanent state of flux. No-one can quite put their finger on why his release has been announced but some believe it could be linked to the wider, ongoing conflict between rival militia and political groups.

Where is he?

We do not know. His lawyer has so far not disclosed his client’s location for “security reasons”.

If he has left Zintan, the most commonly-held belief is that he went to eastern Libya.

Others believe he went south, and some think he’s more likely to head to the town of Bani Walid than anywhere else. This was one of the last places to fall during the 2011 conflict in which his father was ousted and it is still seen by many Libyans as a hub for loyalists of the old regime.

Others have suggested he could be in Egypt.

What does he plan to do?

This will only become clear if and when he makes a statement. His lawyer has claimed that Gaddafi could play a pivotal role in national reconciliation efforts.

Would it be possible for him to re-enter politics?

In Libya today, everything is possible. Since 2011, members and institutions of the old order have returned to power, albeit in different capacities. However, if Gaddafi were to attempt this, he would be contending with multiple centres of power.

Can he travel within Libya?

Theoretically, yes, but not freely or easily. Some of the most powerful brigades in the country will be angered by his reported release and are likely to try and re-capture him.

What happens to the death sentence against him?

The court in Tripoli that convicted him has not scrapped it and there does not appear to be any plan to do so.

The country’s prosecutor general, who sits in Tripoli, also does not believe the amnesty law, passed by the parliament based in the east of Libya, applies to Gaddafi.

The militia that released him invoked this law when announcing his release – it claimed to be following legal procedures.

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi: Heir to prisoner

  • June 1972: Born in Tripoli, Libya, second son of Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi
  • February 2011: Uprising against Gaddafi government begins
  • June 2011: International Criminal Court issues arrest warrant for him for crimes against humanity
  • August 2011: Leaves the capital after Tripoli falls to anti-government forces; flees to Bani Walid
  • October 2011: Father and a younger brother killed
  • 19 November 2011: Captured by militia as he tries to flee south to Niger. Imprisoned in Zintan
  • July 2015: Sentenced to death by a Tripoli court in his absence
  • June 2017: Reportedly released under amnesty law issued by one of Libya’s two competing governments

Source: BBC News

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