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By Libya Herald reporters.
Tripoli, 6 December 2015.
The judge in the trial of Saadi Qaddafi has ruled that the prosecution needs to . . .[restrict]be given more time to prepare the case against the late dictator’s third son, who is accused of human rights abuses during the revolution and the murder of a football team official.
The hearing, in the specially-built courtroom within Tripoli’s Hadba prison where other leading members of the old regime have been tried, ended with the judge ordering an adjournment until 1 February. It is the fifth adjournment.
There is speculation that the prosecution may be taking more care over the Saadi case following serious criticism from the International Bar Association of the conduct of the earlier trials, which saw former security chief Abdullah Senussi and Qaddafi’s heir Saif Al-Islam among nine accused sentenced to death.
The case against Saadi includes his alleged March 2006 murder Ittihad Tripoli football team coach, Bashir Al-Rayani as well as his actions in seeking to suppress the Revolution. It is also reported that Saad has since been charged with the illegal consumption of alcohol and false imprisonment.
Since he was extradited from Niger in March 2014, Saadi has appeared in court this year in May, September and again November. On each occasion the case was adjourned because his lawyer wanted more time to study the papers. If, as it now seems, the prosecution has not finished assembling its case, it would seem more than likely that in February the defence team will seek a further adjournment to examine the new evidence. [/restrict]
