Tripoli: A Libyan court of appeals has acquitted Saadi Qaddafi, a son of former Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi, of murdering a football coach in 2005, a judicial source said Wednesday.
The court’s criminal chamber acquitted Saadi Qaddafi on Tuesday of charges of “voluntary homicide,” the source said on condition of anonymity.
The former ruler’s son was accused of murdering Bashir Al-Rayani, a former footballer and coach of Tripoli’s Al-Ittihad football club, where Qaddafi played, in 2005.
The judicial source added that the ministry of justice asked the supreme court Wednesday to submit an update on the other cases involving Qaddafi.
Extradited from Niger on March 6, 2014, Qaddafi is also being tried, among others, for alleged involvement in the deadly crackdown on the revolt that toppled his father’s regime in 2011. The case has repeatedly been postponed.
Rayani’s son, Ali, took to local media to denounce the court’s ruling, saying his family would appeal the decision “until justice is served.”
“The case is clear. All the evidence and testimony confirm the responsibility of Saadi Qaddafi,” Ali Al-Rayani told the 218News channel.
“How is it possible that a criminal whose culpability is confirmed by concrete evidence can be acquitted... It’s impossible!” he said.
“We could not get justice under his father’s regime, we will get it now, I’m confident!“
Of Qaddafi’s seven sons, three died were killed during the uprising, as was their father.
After playing with Libyan clubs, Saadi Qaddafi signed in 2003 with Italy’s Perugia club, whose management took him on at the request of then Italian president Silvio Berlusconi, who had close ties with the Libyan regime.
But even though he was a part of the team, Saadi Qaddafi rarely stepped foot on the field, appearing only twice on the substitutes’ bench.
He was suspended for three months in his second season with the team for doping.
His greatest achievement was playing 15 minutes against Juventus in May 2004.
In June 2005, he joined Udinese, with whom he played 11 minutes. The following year he joined Sampdoria of Genoa, where he played less than 10 minutes all season.
Libya court acquits Saadi Qaddafi of murdering football coach
Libya court acquits Saadi Qaddafi of murdering football coach
- Son of Muammar Qaddafi was accused of murdering Tripoli Al-Ittihad coach Bashir Al-Rayani
- Saadi Qaddafi also being tried for crackdown on revolt that toppled his father's regime
Thirty four Australians released from Syrian camp holding Daesh affiliated families
- Roj camp holds more than 2,000 people from 40 different nationalities, the majority of them women and children
ROJ CAMP: Syrian Kurdish forces on Monday released 34 Australians from a camp holding families of suspected Daesh militants in northern Syria, saying they would be flown to Australia from Damascus.
Hukmiya Mohamed, a co-director of Roj camp, told Reuters that the 34 Australians had been released to members of their families who had come to Syria for the release. They were put on small buses for Damascus.
Roj camp holds more than 2,000 people from 40 different nationalities, the majority of them women and children.
Thousands of people believed to be linked to Daesh militants have been held at Roj and a second camp, Al-Hol, since the militant group was driven from its final territorial foothold in Syria in 2019.
Syrian government forces seized swathes of northern Syria from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in January, before agreeing a ceasefire on January 29.
The US military last week completed a mission to transfer 5,700 adult male Daesh detainees from Syria to Iraq.
