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Middle East and North Africa

RF citizen among ICC lawyers detained in Libya

Sixty-year-old Khodakov was Russian ambassador to the Netherlands from 1998 to 2003

Photo EPA/ITAR-TASS

Photo EPA/ITAR-TASS

THE HAGUE, June 11 (Itar-Tass) —— Among the four International Criminal Court delegation members detained in Libya is a Russian citizen, former ambassador to the Netherlands Alexander Khodakov, who is a senior adviser to the ICC Registry since September 2011. The court press service reported the information about the ICC delegation on Sunday.

Sixty-year-old Khodakov was Russian ambassador to the Netherlands from 1998 to 2003. Afterwards, he worked at The Hague-based Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. Since September 2011, he is senior adviser to the ICC Registry.

The other detained delegation members are 48-year-old Spaniard Esteban Peralta Lossilla, 32-year-old Lebanese Helen Assaf and 36-year-old Australian Melinda Taylor.

According to the ICC, the delegation members were detained in Libya after they visited Muammar Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam in the jail on Thursday, June 7. However, it became known only on Saturday evening. Saif al-Islam is held in the jail in Zintan since the day of his arrest in November 2011 to stand trial in Libya. The ICC insists on his extradition, charging him with crimes against humanity. Tripoli believes Gaddafi's son must be tried in his home country for his crimes committed against Libyan people.

The ICC delegation is held under guard by the Zintan brigade, whose head Alajmi Ali Ahmed al-Atiri said that the delegation would be released only after being questioned.

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