The Libyan government and the UN reiterated their concerns on Monday (November 29th) after new incidents in the Sebha court (south), preventing Seif al-Islam Gaddafi from appealing the rejection of his presidential candidacy.
Read alsoLibya, without a UN special envoy, sees its elections move a little further
In a statement released late Monday, the interim government declared "to
follow with great concern the tensions around the Sebha court, which threaten the legitimacy of the judicial institution
". "
Threatening the lives of judges or attempting to influence their work risks plunging Sebha back into civil war
," he warned.
Images released by the local press show armed individuals, presented as belonging to the forces of Khalifa Haftar, the strongman of the East, blocking access to the trial court in this semi-desert town some 650 kilometers away. south of Tripoli.
Similar incidents have been reported since Thursday, preventing for the fifth day in a row the lawyers of the son of ex-dictator Muammar Gaddafi from appealing the rejection of his candidacy in the December 24 poll.
Several dozen people, including supporters of Seif al-Islam, demonstrated Monday in Sebha in a climate of tension to denounce this "
attack on the work of justice
".
"
Great concern
"
The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (Manul) said in a statement "to
follow with great concern the continued closure of the Sebha Court of Appeal
", where judges have been "
physically prevented from performing their duties. , directly hampering the electoral process
”. She also said she was "
alarmed by the growing reports of intimidation and threats against judges and justice officials, especially those dealing with election-related complaints, as well. than against candidates in a number of places in Libya
”.
The High Electoral Commission (HNEC) announced on Wednesday the exclusion of 25 candidates for non-compliance with the provisions of the electoral law.
Among them Seif al-Islam Kadhafi, sentenced to death in 2015 after an expeditious trial, before benefiting from an amnesty.
Disappeared from public life, he submitted his candidacy in mid-November, relying on the support of those nostalgic for the former regime, disappointed by an endless political transition against a backdrop of chaos.
The culmination of a laborious process sponsored by the UN, the presidential election of December 24 and the legislative elections scheduled a month later are supposed to turn the page on a decade of conflict since the fall in 2011 of the regime of Muammar Gaddafi.
