Protesters gathered outside Parliament in Valletta. Photo: Mark Zammit Cordina

A group of Libyans gathered in front of Parliament yesterday to protest against a Tripoli court judgment which sentenced the son of former dictator Muammar Gaddafi to death.

Carrying placards stating “Militia rule begets political litigation” and “Stop the execution of unjust sentences,” the group of 20 called for international support and intervention to expel militias.

Last week, Saif Gaddafi was condemned to death along with eight other figures from the former dictatorship. The trial, which opened in Tripoli last year, has been questioned over standards by human rights groups and the international criminal court.

The UN support mission for Libya catalogued a list of failings, including reported intimidation of witnesses, lack of access to lawyers and of presentation of witnesses or documents in court.

The court itself is not legitimate, since it is located in the hijacked city of Tripoli

In yesterday’s peaceful protest, Libyans residing in Malta rejected the actions of the Libya Dawn militias that “forced the judges of the mock court of Tripoli to issue oppressive sentences against those who fell in their hands”.

The trial was a political one and had nothing to do with the domain of law and justice, they argued.

Terming it a “mock trail”, the group considered it null and void, because the procedures of arrest, interrogation, investigation and imprisonment were carried out by “incompetent criminal gangs and not by the authority of the judiciary and prosecution”.

“The court itself is originally not legitimate, since it is located in the hijacked city of Tripoli, which is under the command of a power-usurping government that is not recognised by the world,” said Abdullah El Megry.

He called upon Maltese MPs and MEPs to stand up against unfair sentences issued by an authority which lacked international recognition.