Saif Gaddafi can't get fair trial in Libya, says ICC lawyer

Tripoli, July 7 (ANI): Slain Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi's son, Saif al-Islam, cannot get a fair trial in his home country, an International Criminal Court (ICC) defence lawyer has said.

The remarks came from Australian lawyer Melinda Taylor, who was held in Libya for more than three weeks after being accused of endangering national security while meeting her client, Saif.

Speaking publicly for the first time since her release on Monday, Taylor denied any wrongdoing in Libya.

"I would like to unequivocally state that I believe that my actions were consistent with my legal obligations" under International Criminal Court rules," the Daily Star quoted her, as saying.

Taylor said Zintan rebels who held her and the three other staff 'treated them with respect and dignity,' but she attacked Libya for its treatment of the court delegation and her client.

"These recent events have completely underscored that it will be impossible for Gaddafi to be tried in an independent and impartial manner in Libyan courts," she said.

Taylor said she would file a report next week on her detention and visit to Saif al-Islam in a defence submission to ICC judges on Libya's application to be allowed to prosecute him.

Taylor was appointed by the court to represent Saif al-Islam, who is charged with crimes against humanity for alleged involvement in attacks on civilians in the early stages of the popular uprising against his father's four-decade rule. (ANI)