Libyan authorities should grant Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi, son of the former leader charged with war crimes, immediate access to a lawyer to help ensure he has due process, Human Rights Watch said Wednesday. Last month Luis Moreno-Ocampo, chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, said he would not demand that Saif Al-Islam be handed over to the Hague-based court to face charges of crimes against humanity even though he has no guarantee that a Libyan trial would be fully fair. Fred Abrahams of the New York-based group Human Rights Watch visited Muammar Gaddafi's son for 30 minutes on Sunday in Zintan, Libya. “His main concern was the lack of access to family and to a lawyer who can help his case,”Abrahams said in a statement. Saif Al-Islam told Abrahams that he has received visits from the general prosecutor, Abdelaziz Al-Hasadi, and various Libyan government officials. The International Committee of the Red Cross has said it visited him as well.
