Mustafa Abdel Jalil, the leader of the National Transitional Council, has indicated his hope that Colonel Gaddafi will be tried in Libya. But the far reaching tentacles of
the International Criminal Court may claim Gaddafi from the Libyan people. Judge Richard Goldstone, former chief prosecutor at The Hague, told the BBC World Service earlier this afternoon that
those who capture Gaddafi “will be under an obligation to put him on an airplane and send him to The Hague.” Meanwhile, the internationally renowned human rights lawyer
Philippe Sands was less certain. He told the World Service: “It shouldn’t be assumed that anyone is automatically going to The Hague…There are still a range of different
possibilities.”
It is unclear what those different possibilities are, but perhaps one option is to try Gaddafi in Libya. The prospect of trial and retribution at The Hague usually hardens a dictator’s resolve to fight to the bitter end, as Gaddafi is now doing.
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