Gaddafi’s daughter’s Israeli lawyer says those who killed Libyan leader must be brought to justice
Attorney Nick Kaufman also concerned for fate of Gaddafi’s son Saif, says even human rights abusers deserve a fair trial
The Israeli attorney for the daughter of Muammar Gaddafi says those responsible for the longtime leader’s killing a year ago should be brought to justice.
The lawyer, Nick Kaufman, was hired last year by the late dictator’s daughter, Aisha. Kaufman has represented other controversial figures in the past on the grounds that everybody deserves a fair trial.
He told the Daily Beast last year that his defense of Gaddafi’s daughter “has got nothing to do with the fact that I’m Israeli. When it comes to practicing at the ICC (International Criminal Court), I’m one of the few lawyers with substantial experience.”
Gaddafi’s son Saif al-Islam was captured a month after his father’s death on October 20, 2011, and is being held in Libya.
The International Criminal Court has not approved yet the new Libyan government’s plans to try Saif al-Islam in Libya for crimes against humanity.
Libya wants to try him at home. Kaufman accused Libya of being incapable of giving Gaddafi’s son a fair trial.
When asked by the Daily Beast in 2011 whether he believed Gaddafi deserved to stand trial at the ICC in light of his human rights record, Kaufman replied: “There’s a principle in international law that no matter how badly one acts to one party, it doesn’t justify outrageous behavior in return. What justice Gaddafi dispensed in the past is irrelevant.”
Last month, an Israeli model and actress admitted to a six-year romantic relationship with Saif al-islam and appealed to former British prime minister Tony Blair to intervene to save his life given the potential for a death penalty in his trial in Libya.
Orly Weinerman, 41 — who played a dumb blonde in the 1990s hit Israeli TV show “Shemesh,” and was a Hebrew gossip column regular — had previously denied her romance with Gaddafi. But she acknowledged that they were in a “discreet” relationship that began in London in 2005, when they were introduced by mutual friends, and that ended only when the civil war broke out in 2011.
Weinerman said Saif was a civilized, serious and honorable man who was now being unjustly treated.
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