U.S. human rights group protests as court sentences Gaddafi’s son, eight ex-officials to death over 2011 killings

A Libyan court on Tuesday sentenced to death Saif’ al-Islam Gaddafi, son of the late dictator, Muammer Gaddafi, and eight former officials on charges related to killings during the 2011 uprising that ended his father’s rule.
The Criminal Court in Tripoli also sentenced to death by firing squad Gaddafi’s intelligence chief, Abdullah Senussi, and former Prime Ministers, Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi and Abuzaid Dorda.
The court convicted them of genocidal crimes, including incitement to the killing of peaceful protesters, enlisting mercenaries and setting up armed militias to quell the anti-Gaddafi uprising.
The court also sentenced 23 other defendants in the same case to jail terms ranging from three years to life imprisonment.
The court said the rulings can be appealed even as it acquitted four co-defendants and referred a fifth to a mental hospital.
Meanwhile, New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the trial was flawed.
Joe Stork, HRW Deputy Director, Middle East and North Africa, said the trial has been plagued by persistent, credible allegations of fair trial breaches that warrant independent and impartial judicial review.
He insisted that the victims of the serious crimes committed during the 2011 uprising deserve justice but that can only be delivered through fair and transparent proceedings.
Saif , 43, did not appear in court for the verdict.
He has been in custody in the western city of Zintan since his capture in late 2011.
Saif took part in the hearings for his trial, which started in April 2014, via a video call from his prison in Zintan because of security reasons.
In recent months, Libya has descended into chaos as the North African country is divided between two rival governments backed by competing militias.
In 2011, the International Criminal Court in The Hague accused Saif of crimes against humanity and issued arrest warrant against him.
Gaddafi, who ruled Libya for more than four decades, was captured and killed by insurgents in his hometown, Sirte, in October, 2011.