UN cites flaws in Libya trial of Gadhafi’s son, others

GENEVA – A United Nations report says the trial in Libya of over three dozen people including Moammar Gadhafi’s son failed to meet international fair-trial standards.

In the 60-page report released Tuesday, the U.N.’s mission in Libya and human rights office cited problems like defendants held incommunicado for long stretches, inadequate investigation of torture claims, and a lack of calls for prosecution witnesses to testify in court.

U.N. human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein called the trial of Seif Gadhafi and 36 others “a missed opportunity for justice” after the downfall of his father in the 2011 “Arab Spring” uprising.

Nine defendants were given the death penalty in the July 2015 verdict. Gadhafi was tried in absentia. He is believed to now be in Zintan, southwest of Tripoli, in a militia-controlled area.