Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, who was captured disguised as a Bedouin in the Sahara desert in November, has also been indicted by the ICC on charges of crimes against humanity stemming from Libya’s civil war last year.

On Tuesday, Aisha Gaddafi had asked the court if she could give information about attempts she has made to contact Saif al-Islam, and submitted a document suggesting the Libyan authorities were unwilling to let any foreign lawyer act for him.

The court said on Thursday that it had rejected both Aisha’s request and a similar one by human rights activist Mishana Hosseinioun. Both requests were “misplaced and contrary” to court procedures, a panel of judges said ruled.

Libya’s ruling National Transitional Council says Saif al-Islam should be tried at home and would be given a fair hearing. The ICC has reserved the right to insist that he be sent to The Hague.

Saif al-Islam’s supporters say they doubt he will be given a fair trial in Libya and that he should be tried instead by the ICC in The Hague.

He faces the death penalty if found guilty by a Libyan court, but only a prison term if convicted by the ICC.

The ICC has jurisdiction over the case because it issued a warrant last year for the arrest of Muammar Gaddafi, Saif al-Islam, and the Libyan leader’s intelligence chief, Abdullah al-Senussi.

Reuters.

Media is strictly kept out of the proceedings and ANC members have been instructed by ANC spokesperson Keith Khoza to remain silent until the hearing is completed.

Malema was suspended in November 2011 as he was found guilty of creating divisions within the ANC as well as and disregarding the party. In addition, Malema’s controversial comments regarding regime change in Botswana fuelled the tensions.

As the panel meet again on Tuesday morning the technical arguments have been dealt with during late Monday night. In Malema’s next presentation on Tuesday it seems advocate Patrick Mtshaulana will argue that the disciplinary committee members, with chairperson Derek Hanekom and Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu, should be recused from the disciplinary committee due to their earlier disagreement with ANCYL’s stand on nationalisation of mines and land reform.

At the time of writing not much has yet been revealed regarding the proceedings besides reports that the disciplinary appeals committee seem to face marathon proceedings, the hearing might be dragged out for a considerable period of time.

(Source: SABC)

The decision to hold a trial could wreck the plans of either politician, or both, to run in a presidential election expected next year and risks sparking protests, possibly riots, in Kenya if people feel it is unfair or fails to hold those responsible for the violence accountable.

It could also backfire on another presidential contender, Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who is accused by Kenyatta’s and Ruto’s respective supporters of trying to exploit the criminal charges for his own political gain.

The six politicians and officials are suspected of orchestrating violence that killed at least 1,200 people and forced hundreds of thousands from their homes.

ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo has applied to bring two separate cases before the court, reflecting the ethnic faultlines behind Kenya’s post-election violence.

Kenyatta, Kenya’s finance minister, is a member of the Kikuyu tribe, the country’s largest, while former minister Ruto’s powerbase consists of the ethnic Kalenjin, the only group besides the Kikuyu to have provided a Kenyan president.

One case groups Kenyatta, the country’s richest man and son of Kenya’s founding father Jomo Kenyatta, together with Francis Muthaura, who is civil service head and cabinet secretary, and Mohammed Hussein Ali, the former police commissioner.

They are accused of crimes against humanity, including murder, rape and persecution. The ICC says Kenyatta mobilised a local mafia-style Mungiki militia made up of his Kikuyu tribesmen to hit back at members of the Kalenjin tribe over violence in the Rift Valley targeting Kikuyu.

The other group consists of Ruto, a former higher education minister, Henry Kosgey, the former industrialisation minister, and Joshua arap Sang, the head of operations at Radio KASS FM.

All three are ethnic Kalenjin, and are accused of crimes against humanity, including murder and persecution.

Ruto is accused of plotting for years to drive President Mwai Kibaki’s supporters out of farms and towns in the Rift Valley using a network of politicians, media representatives, financiers, tribal elders and former members of the security forces.

All six suspects appeared in The Hague for confirmation of charges hearings in 2011 – proceedings which were closely followed in Kenya – and all denied the accusations.

Support in Kenya for the ICC prosecutor’s efforts to put the six men on trial in The Hague dropped to 54 percent earlier this month, from 59 percent in October, reflecting worries about the impact of the case on Kenya’s stability.

Respondents who opposed it said they believed local courts should handle the trial or that they feared the process would divide Kenya. Those in favour saw it as the only way to ensure justice for the victims or prevent a repeat of the violence.

Reuters.

The Hague-based ICC issued an arrest warrant for Saif al-Islam after prosecutors accused him and others of involvement in the killing of protesters during the revolt that eventually toppled Muammar Gaddafi in August.

Minister of Justice Ali Humaida Ashour told Reuters the ICC had accepted in principle a request by Libyan authorities to try Saif al-Islam and would make a final decision within weeks.

“We expect the court (ICC) will accept that Saif is tried in Libya,” he told Reuters in an interview in the Libyan capital.

“The Libyan judiciary is the one that has the jurisdiction to try Saif al-Islam Gaddafi because the Libyan judiciary is the base and the ICC complements it.”

The ICC’s chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, said in November that he was happy for Libya to hold the trial, even though he had no guarantee that it would be fair.

But the decision rests with ICC judges who, shortly after Moreno-Ocampo’s comments, said that if Libya wished to try Saif al-Islam, it must submit a formal challenge to the ICC and answer questions about his arrest and conditions of detention.

On Tuesday the ICC said it would give Libya until January 23 to provide its answers, including information about his mental and physical health. On Thursday, after Ashour’s comments, it said there was no change in its stance.

CHARGES

Ashour said Saif al-Islam would be tried on charges of mismanagement of public funds, homicide and rape, adding that if convicted of homicide, he could face the death penalty.

When asked to comment on an appeal by Human Rights Watch to the Libyan authorities last month to allow Saif al-Islam to have immediate access to a lawyer, he said: “Any defendant has the right to have a lawyer during interrogation.”

“International and legal standards will be taken into account and the trial will be held according to Libyan law,” he said, adding that Saif would be allowed to hire a lawyer of his choice.

He said the trial, which is expected to be mostly open to the public, would be conducted by an ordinary Libyan court, not a special tribunal.

He added: “A courtroom will be set up for the trial that will accommodate the international organisations and the media.”

Asked about the timing, he said the trial would take place after the interrogation was completed and evidence collected.

Saif al-Islam was captured by a powerful militia from Zintan that still holds him in an undisclosed location, but Ashour said that he was under the control of the public prosecutor.

Libya is still largely controlled by dozens of militias that have carved up the country into rival fiefdoms, with many showing little interest in giving up their weapons and joining the military or police, or in taking up civilian jobs.

The chairman of Libya’s National Transitional Council, Mustafa Abdel Jalil, said this month his government was facing difficulties reinstating Libya’s judiciary system due to a lack of security.

“If there’s no security, there will be no law, no development and no elections,” he told a gathering on January 3. “People are taking the law into their own hands.”

Ashour said the interior minister had assured him that the security forces were able to protect the courts and prisons.

Reuters.

Mubarak, his two sons, the former interior minister and six senior police officers face charges ranging from corruption to involvement in the deaths of around 850 protesters during the popular revolt that unseated him last February.

Egyptian prosecutors have demanded the death sentence for the man who ruled the Arab world’s most populous country for 30 years.

In a spectacle that mesmerised millions of Arabs, Mubarak became the first Arab leader toppled in the wave of Arab protests to appear in person in a courtroom cage when his trial began in August.

The Cairo criminal court judge, Ahmed Refaat, told Tuesday’s session that lawyers defending Mubarak and remaining plaintiffs would have a month, starting January 17, to make their case.

Farid el-Deeb, the lawyer defending Mubarak and his sons, will begin his defence, which is expected to take five days. He will be followed by the lawyer defending ex-Interior Minister Habib al-Adli, who will take a further six days to make his case.

The court could issue a ruling after the defence makes closing comments on February 16, or it could set a separate date for a verdict and sentencing.

Many Egyptians hope the trial will heal some of the scars of Mubarak’s autocratic rule and help the country find stability after nearly a year of political turmoil under the generals who replaced him in power.

But the multitude of witnesses, complexity of charges and the prosecution’s difficulty in obtaining evidence from the security services might make it easier for the defence lawyers to push for lighter sentences for Mubarak and his co-defendents.

Both Mubarak, who was forced to step down on February 11, 2011 after 18 days of public protest, and the other defendants deny responsibility for the deaths and other charges.

For the second hearing this week, Mubarak appeared in a courtroom cage reserved for the accused, along with his sons, Adli and six senior police officers.

The court listened to 21 of the lawyers representing the families of those killed and wounded in a civil suit against Mubarak and his co-defendants. Lawyers echoed prosecution calls for Mubarak to receive the heaviest possible sentence.

During the hearing, lawyer Ashraf Mukhtar called for Mubarak and his co-defendants to pay a 1 billion Egyptian pound fine for exposing public property to arson and withdrawing security forces from the streets, which led to a security breakdown.

Mukhtar said the decision to pull police and security forces off the streets was intended to scare Egyptians into believing they faced a choice between Mubarak’s autocratic rule and chaos.

Reuters.

Many Egyptians hope the trial will heal some of the scars of Mubarak’s autocratic rule and help the country find stability after nearly a year of political turmoil under the military generals who replaced him in power.

But the multitude of witnesses, complexity of charges and the prosecution’s difficulty in obtaining evidence from the security services might make it easier for the defence lawyers to push for a lighter sentence for Mubarak and his co-defendants.

For the final hearing of three that took place this week, Mubarak appeared in a courtroom cage reserved for the accused along with his sons, former interior minister Habib el-Adly and six senior police officers.

“The prosecution demands the maximum penalty against Mubarak and the rest of the accused, which is death by hanging,” Mustafa Khater, a member of the prosecution team, told a court. “The killing of one person calls for a death penalty so what would the court say in a case where hundreds have been killed.”

Khater’s speech prompted cheers and claps from some lawyers who shouted: “Death, death … God is greatest.”

Mubarak, who ruled for three decades before he was forced on February 11 to step down after 18 days of public protests against his rule, is the first leader toppled by the wave of protests in the Arab world to stand trial in person.

The 83-year-old former president and the other defendants deny responsibility for the deaths.

Chief Prosecutor Mustafa Suleiman told the court that, even if Mubarak did not directly order the killing of the protesters, he failed in his constitutional responsibility to protect the people.

The prosecution also said that witness testimonies, including that of Omar Suleiman, who was named vice president during the protests, had all indicated that “police officers have to return to the president of the state in decisions that concern dealing with protesters”.

“And many of those witnesses have assured the prosecution that no police officer can fire unless he gets orders from his boss,” Suleiman said.

Mohamed El Gendi, a lawyer acting on behalf of Adly, said the prosecution had failed to provide conclusive evidence.

“The prosecution relied on conclusions and narrated tales that do not firmly prove that the accused person committed the crimes,” he said.

On top of the charges related to the death of protesters, Mubarak and his co-defendants face charges including corruption, abuse of power and wasting public funds. The judge adjourned the trial until January 9 and 10 when the plaintiffs’ lawyers will make their final statements.

Reuters.

L’audience portait sur l’accusation de détournement et de tentative de détournement de deniers publics, lors du sommet de l’Organisation de l’unité africaine (OUA) de 1996. Sommet dont l’organisation était confiée à Titus Edzoa, alors secrétaire général de la présidence.

Citant de mémoire, numéro de compte et chiffres au franc près, l’homme a expliqué que le compte bancaire crédité des fonds publics pour l’organisation du sommet, était ce qu’il y a de plus légal. « La preuve, a-t-il dit, l’un de ces versements est un chèque signé du ministère des Finances ».

Le procureur a lui essayé de prouver que Titus Edzoa était de connivence avec son co-accusé Michel-Thierry Atangana, Français d’origine camerounaise, également détenu depuis quatorze ans.

« Laissez M. Atangana tranquille !», lui a répondu Titus Edzoa, soutenant que ce dernier, n’était en rien mêlé à l’organisation du sommet. L’accusé a marqué un point dans sa passe d’armes avec le procureur. Celui-ci a demandé la suspension de l’audience, histoire de retrouver sa sérénité. Rendez-vous a été donné ce jeudi, pour la suite de ce procès fleuve.

RFI.

Alors qu’il passionnait les foules lors de la première audience le 3 août, le procès du président égyptien déchu Hosni Moubarak, qui a repris ce mercredi 28 décembre au Caire, passe cette fois presque inaperçu.

Il y a quelques mois, la population égyptienne, tout comme le reste du monde, avait les yeux rivés sur ce procès historique, celui du premier dictateur du Printemps arabe à comparaître en personne – allongé sur une civière – devant la justice. Mais les récents affrontements meurtriers entre forces de l’ordre et manifestants et les élections législatives ont fait passer au second plan les préoccupations concernant le sort d’Hosni Moubarak.

Pendant trois mois, le Raïs n’est plus apparu au tribunal, le procès ayant été interrompu suite à un recours des parties civiles contre le président de la cour instruisant l’affaire. Le juge Ahmed Refaat a été en effet accusé de partialité en faveur des partisans de l’ancien dictateur. La justice n’a finalement pas tenu compte de ces critiques et a décidé de maintenir le magistrat à son poste dès le 7 décembre.

Hosni Moubarak, âgé de 83 ans, est arrivé ce matin au tribunal à bord d’une ambulance. Il a été placé sur une civière pour être transporté dans la salle d’audience. L’ancien président, en détention dans un hôpital militaire, est jugé pour la répression de la révolte populaire qui a conduit à sa chute, et dont le bilan humain est officiellement de 850 morts. L’ex-Raïs doit également répondre d’accusations de malversations financières et de corruption, des charges qui visent aussi ses deux fils, Alaa et Gamal. Ces deux derniers sont incarcérés à la prison de Tora, dans le sud du Caire, où ils ont reçu mardi la visite de leur mère, Suzanne, et de leurs épouses respectives Heidi et Khadiga selon les médias officiels. Devra également répondre de ses actes l’ancien ministre de l’Intérieur Habib el-Adli ainsi que plusieurs autres de ses collaborateurs en poste lors des événements de janvier et février.

“Nouveaux documents”

Lors des dernières audiences, à hui-clos, des personnalités du nouveau pouvoir ont été amenées à témoigner. Le maréchal Hussein Tantaoui, chef du Conseil suprême des forces armées (CSFA) et ancien ministre de la Défense d’Hosni Moubarak devenu son successeur de fait, avait pour sa part assuré que l’ancien président n’avait jamais donné l’ordre de tirer sur la foule des manifestants. Les familles des victimes et leurs avocats ont immédiatement dénoncé un procès qui multiplie les auditions de « témoins à décharge », favorables à Hosni Moubarak, au détriment d’une recherche des responsabilités.

Aujourd’hui les avocats des parties civiles déplorent qu’après des mois de suspension, l’audience de reprise de ce procès pourrait être qu’une pure procédure et faire fi des débats sur les accusations contre l’ancien président. Les avocats de ce dernier espèrent de leur côté que cette audience sera en mesure de faire avancer la cause de leur client. Me Yousri Abdel Razek, président d’un comité de défense de l’ancien chef d’État, a d’ailleurs expliqué mardi 27 décembre avoir « trouvé de nouveaux documents qui prouveront l’innocence de M. Moubarak ».

Jeune Afrique.

Bensouda, 50, will succeed the high-profile Luis Moreno-Ocampo of Argentina, whose term of office expires next June. She is currently his deputy.

Bensouda was elected without a vote at a meeting in the United Nations of the 120-nation Assembly of States Parties to the ICC, which is based at The Hague in the Netherlands. She will serve a nine-year term starting June 16.

A search committee had drawn up a short-list of four candidates in October. The field slimmed down to two last month after the states parties decided the job should go to an African, eliminating Britain’s Andrew Cayley and Robert Petit of Canada.

Diplomats said the other African candidate, Mohamed Chande Othman of Tanzania, subsequently withdrew from the race, leaving Bensouda, who had long been the favorite, as the only contender.

Bensouda was named deputy prosecutor of the ICC in 2004 and previously worked as a legal adviser and trial attorney at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in Arusha, Tanzania.

As chief prosecutor, she will step into the full glare of publicity and controversy that has surrounded the world’s top warcrimes court since it came into being in 2002.

While the number of signatories to the Rome Statute that created the ICC is steadily growing, key countries remain outside it. They include the United States — which fears it could be used against the U.S. military — as well as Russia, China and most Arab states.

The ICC is mandated to try cases of warcrimes and crimes against humanity that national justice systems cannot or will not prosecute.

TOUGH-TALKING

The tough-talking Moreno-Ocampo has won praise for his role in promoting the work of the ICC. He has launched seven formal investigations, issued an arrest warrant for Sudan’s president Omar al-Bashir and begun three trials.

The ICC indicted Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi before his death in October, as well as his son Saif al-Islam and intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi. Moreno-Ocampo has said, however, that he will not demand that the captured Saif al-Islam be handed over to The Hague.

In the latest development involving the ICC, former Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo was flown last month to The Hague to face charges of crimes against humanity.

The court is also pursuing cases in Kenya, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Some African politicians, including African Union Commission chairman Jean Ping, have charged that the ICC focuses excessively on Africa. The AU has told its members to ignore the arrest warrant against Sudan’s Bashir, who has visited ICC signatories Chad and Kenya without being detained.

But Bensouda said after her election she disagreed with that view. “I think ICC is working for Africa and with African victims,” she told reporters. “I don’t think any of us can deny that the crimes, the atrocities that are happening in Africa are crimes that fall within the jurisdiction of the ICC.”

Botswana President Seretse Khama went further in a speech to the meeting that elected Bensouda, blasting what he called the “increasing failure by (some African states) to honor their obligations under the Rome Statute.”

“The reality is that atrocious human rights abuses and other serious crimes that merit ICC’s attention have and continue to be committed in Africa,” he said. “And in the majority of situations, it is Africans themselves who invite the intervention of the court.”

Reuters.

« En tant que journaliste mon devoir est de rencontrer des gens, de poser des questions et de trouver des informations », explique Martin Schibbye à la cour. Il insiste : son collègue et lui sont entrés en Ethiopie dans un seul but, enquêter sur les conséquences de la prospection pétrolière en Ogaden de la compagnie aux intérêts suédois, Africa Oil.

Le voile est levé sur une scène de la vidéo présentée il y a quelques jours par l’accusation qui montre les journalistes portant des armes. Les armes auraient appartenu à leurs gardes en Somalie. « C’était une façon pour nous de rompre la glace. Nous voulions les mettre à l’aise pour pouvoir les interviewer », précise Johan Persson.

Le rédacteur en chef du magazine suédois Filter, Mattias Göransson a confirmé qu’il avait acheté un reportage sur la compagnie pétrolière. « Une histoire sur le terrorisme en Ethiopie, sans lien avec la Suède, n’intéresserait pas nos lecteurs ».

Le procureur Biranhu Yilma, quant à lui, n’a pas été séduit : « Vous parlez de devoir, mais qui vous l’impose, pourquoi donc enquêter en Ethiopie serait votre devoir ? »

L’audience se poursuit ce mercredi 7 décembre avec l’audition des deux derniers témoins de la défense : deux journalistes britanniques.

RFI