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Libya holds ICC lawyer and team

June 11, 2012

Libya has placed a group of officials from the ICC in preventative detention for 45 days while an investigation is held into their meeting with Moammar Gadhafi's son.

https://p.dw.com/p/15CGI
In this undated photo provided by the International Criminal Court (ICC), Australian defense lawyer Melinda Taylor poses for a photograph at an unknown location. The International Criminal Court demanded the release on Saturday, June 9, 2012 of four of its staffers, including Taylor, which it says are being detained in Libya, where they are part of an official mission sent to meet with the imprisoned son of deposed dictator Moammar Gadhafi.
Image: dapd

Four officials from the International Criminal Court (ICC) have been placed in preventative detention for 45 days after they aroused suspicion from Libyan authorities following a visit with Seif al-Islam, the son of former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. Libya's representative to the ICC, Ahmed al-Jehani, confirmed the announcement Monday.

All members of a four-person ICC group were initially detained. A lawyer from the group, Australian national Melinda Taylor, was found with documents for Seif al-Islam that were considered to be a threat to national security. The ICC delegation had travelled to the remote mountain town of Zintan, 180 kilometers southwest of Tripoli, where Seif al-Islam has been held since he was captured last November.

A watch concealing a camera and a pen with a built-in camera were also discovered when the delegates were searched before their scheduled meeting with Saif al-Islam, al-Jehani said on Saturday.

The ICC officials will continue to be held in Zintan, and the ICC announced that another delegation had arrived in Libya with the intent of visiting them. This meeting in Zintan would likely take place on Tuesday.

The ICC and Libyan government have been at loggerheads over the fate of Seif al-Islam since the ICC issued a warrant for him last year. He is wanted over allegations concerning his role in the massacre of protesters during the rebellion that eventually led to his father's ousting and eventual death after ruling for 42 years. But the Libyan government has so far opposed the move, insisting that the former ruler's son should be tried on Libyan soil. In May, it filed a legal challenge against the ICC over the row.

mz/msh (Reuters, AFP)