ICC says Libya can try Al Sanussi

The Hague: The International Criminal Court on Friday ruled that Libya can try slain dictator Muammar Gaddafi’s former spy chief, having previously demanded he be handed over to The Hague.

Because Abdullah Al Sanussi is being tried in Libya, ICC judges “concluded that the case is inadmissible before the court, in accordance with the principle of complementarity”, it said.

The ICC stressed that the Al Sanussi decision had no bearing on the case against Gaddafi’s son Saif Al Islam, who is still wanted in The Hague.

Gaddafi’s former heir apparent and others including Al Sanussi are accused of crimes during the revolt against Gaddafi two years ago.

Judges ruled that “the case against Al Sanussi is currently subject to domestic proceedings conducted by the Libyan competent authorities and that Libya is willing and able genuinely to carry out such investigation”.

The ICC’s founding document, the Rome Statute, says that the ICC cannot carry out proceedings against a suspect if they are receiving a fair trial on similar charges in a domestic court.

The court said the decision could be appealed if it appeared Al Sanussi was not getting a free trial.

The pre-trial chamber “found that the evidence submitted by Libya is sufficient to conclude that the Libyan and the ICC investigations cover the same case and that concrete and progressive steps are being undertaken by the domestic authorities in the proceedings against [Al] Sanussi”.

It also took into account the fact that Al Sanussi is detained by Libyan state authorities, the quality of the evidence against him in the domestic case, and “efforts made to resolve certain issues in the justice system by recourse to international assistance”.

A Tripoli court is to decide on October 24 whether to indict Saif Al Islam and Al Sanussi, among 20 senior figures from Gaddafi’s regime charged with killing protesters during the 2011 revolt that toppled him.

However, Saif remains in the hands of rebels in the western Libya town of Zintan, who have refused to hand him over to Tripoli authorities.