It states that the Sebha court accepted the appeal against the decision of the electoral commission and authorizes the son of the late Libyan dictator to run as a candidate in the elections
Soldecanarias.net / Island Express / Adeje
Mohamed Jamil Derbah affirms that the Supreme Electoral Commission of Libya annulled, on November 25, the candidacy of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of the late dictator, Muammar Gaddafi, to the presidential elections on December 24. These elections, enormously supported by the international community, have as their main objective the stabilization of a country that has had more than ten years of violent and convulsive confrontations between rival groups that aspire to control the territory.
However, Derbah specified that after a long appearance by Saif al-Islam in front of the Court of the southwestern city of Sebha, the appeal of the dictator's son was accepted by the Libyan justice. This ruling in his favor allows Saif al-Islam to reestablish his candidacy for the December elections, in which he will face other strong candidates such as the current Libyan Prime Minister, Abdel Hamid Dbebé; Marshal KhalifaHaftar; the former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdel Hadi Al-Hwaij, or the former Minister of the Interior, FathiBasagha.
Sebha, an oasis city in the southwest of the country, was the city chosen by Saif al-Islam to make the presentation of his candidacy official, and, after this, it became the town whose justice reaffirms said candidacy. And it is not by chance. This municipality is the stronghold of the Qadhadhfa tribe, an Arab-Berber community closely linked to the Gaddafi family, and where the Libyan dictator grew up and became involved in political activism
A complicated appeal
Derbah noted that on the other hand, Saif al-Islam's appeal procedure was also surrounded by tensions and difficulties. Throughout the week, a group of several armed men surrounded the Sebha court to prevent the magistrates from entering the court. Those gathered displayed the logo of the Tariq bin Ziyad brigade, one of the militias related to the LNA, which would be under the control of KhalifaHaftar.
In this regard, the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) stated that it was "following with great concern the continued closure of the Sebha appeals court", where this obstruction of the work of the judges was "directly blocking the electoral process."
Finally, the group of men withdrew last Thursday allowing the three magistrates and Saif al-Islam's lawyer, together with the dictator's son, to access the building and continue with the appeal.
Saif al-Islam and Justice
The reason that led the Libyan electoral commission to revoke Gaddafi's candidacy is related to the documentation submission process. Thus, the supreme institution alleged that the applicant had not sent the commission the certificate of absence of pending criminal records, since last year 2011 an arrest warrant was issued against him.
