The Defence for Mr. Al-Senussi is surprised and shocked by the ICC Appeals Chamber's decision to refuse to take the case against Mr. Al-Senussi and instead leave it to Libya to try. It is deeply troubling that this decision comes as Tripoli has become a violent conflict zone, the UN have withdrawn and Libya's own Foreign Minister acknowledges it is on the brink of becoming a failed state.
The ICC has turned its back on the realities of Libya. The national authorities are simply not capable of trying Mr Al-Senussi in Libya. The ICC has also ignored the egregious violations of Mr. Al-Senussi's rights at the hands of the Libyan authorities. He is still without effective legal representation, a prerequisite for any trial that the international community could accept as being consistent with bringing the person to justice.
The Defence were prevented access to their client by Libya, yet the Appeals Chamber found that this did not matter as he did not even have a right to be heard before the ICC. This is an unprecedented denial of the most very basic rights by an international court.