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International Criminal Court issues arrest warrant for Gaddafi

27 June 2011 14:17 (UTC +04:00)

Judge Sanji Mmasenono Monageng was expected to read a three-judge bench’s decision tonight on a request by The Hague-based International Criminal Court’s prosecutor to have the Libyan strongman and two of his closest allies arrested. The ICC’s prosecution asked for warrants for Gaddafi, 69, his son Saif al-Islam, 39, and the head of Libyan intelligence, Abdullah al-Senussi, 62, for murder and persecution since mid-February, when the bloody uprising started. ICC judges may now decide to issue the warrants, to decline the request or to ask for additional information before giving the nod.
Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo’s investigation follows a referral by the United Nations Security Council on the Libyan conflict on 26 February. The prosecutor’s office launched its investigation five days later. On Sunday, Moreno-Ocampo said the war crimes in Libya would not stop until Gaddafi was arrested. "Crimes continue today in Libya. To stop the crimes and protect civilians in Libya, Gaddafi must be arrested," he said in a statement.

It will be the second time the ICC’s top accuser has a country’s head of state in his sights, after an arrest warrant for Sudan’s Omar al-Bashir was first issued in March 2009. The warrant was yet to be executed. In his submission, Moreno-Ocampo said Gaddafi had a personal hand in planning and implementing "a policy of widespread and systematic attacks against civilians and demonstrators and dissidents in particular". "Gaddafi’s plan expressly included the use of lethal force against demonstrators and dissidents," the submission said. The Libyan strongman also ordered sniping at civilians leaving mosques after evening prayers. His forces carried out a systematic campaign of arrest and detention of alleged dissidents, it said. "Gaddafi’s plans were carried out through his inner circle, which included Saif al-Islam, Gaddafi’s de-facto prime minister and his brother-in-law Al-Senussi, considered to be his right-hand man," the submission said.