The International Criminal Court on Monday issued arrest warrants against Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and his son and his intelligence chief, citing evidence of crimes against humanity committed against opponents of his Libyan regime. Judge Sanji Mmasenono Monageng said: "State policy was designed at the highest level of the state machinery, and aimed at quelling by any means, including by the use of lethal force, demonstrations of civilians against the regime of Muammar Muhammad Gaddafi."
According to her, the evidence submitted by ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo was enough to establish "reasonable grounds to believe" the three were guilty of murder and the persecution of civilians, or "crimes against humanity," and should be arrested.
Since the beginning of the revolt against his regime on February 15, Gaddafi had "absolute and unquestioned control over the Libyan state apparatus of power," while Saif al-Islam - his second-oldest son and "unspoken successor" - functioned as a "de factor prime minister" and controlled the state's finance and logistics, she said.
