[Daily Mail] The son of Libya's former dictator Colonel Gaddafi has been sentenced to death in absentia after he was found guilty of committing war crimes in the Libyan Civil War.Saif al-Islam Gaddafi is currently being held by a former rebel group in the Libyan town of Zintan after he attempted to cross the desert into neighbouring Niger.
He spoke to the court via a video link after his captors refused to allow him to leave Zintan and attend the trial in Tripoli.
Gaddafi and eight other associates were sentenced to death by firing squad after being found guilty of ordering the brutal suppression of demonstrations during the bloody uprising.
Well known for gesturing aggressively with his hands in interviews with journalists, Saif had to have several of his fingers amputated after they were badly injured in an airstrike in 2011.
The Gaddafi regime's former chief of intelligence, Abdallah al-Senousi, has also been sentenced to death but like Mr al-Islam, he will be able to appeal the decision.
Also facing trial was one of Gaddafi's former Prime Ministers, Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi as well as former foreign minister Abdul Ati al-Obeidi and ex-intelligence chief Buzeid Dorda.
Prison sentences ranging from five years to life imprisonment were also handed out to several other Gaddafi era associates.