A Libyan judicial official says authorities are seeking clarification from a militia-run prison holding the son of Libyan dictator Muammar Qadhafi as to why he missed a court hearing in Tripoli.
Al-Seddik al-Sur of the state prosecutor’s office told reporters on Thursday that authorities have asked for “justification” as to why Seif al-Islam Qadhafi was not transferred from the western town of Zintan to attend a pre-trial hearing in a case related to alleged crimes he committed during the country’s 2011 civil war.
The failed prisoner transfer reflects the inability of the government to rein in militias in the absence of a strong national army or police.
Seif al-Islam, the most prominent figure his father’s defunct regime, did however make a brief appearance in a Zintan court for a separate trial.