The daughter of Libya's former spy chief Abdullah Senussi says he is ready to co-operate fully with the investigation by French judges into allegations that the late Colonel Gaddafi's regime illegally funded Nicolas Sarkozy's 2007 presidential election campaign. In an interview with Mediapart, Anoud Senussi said: “He can help the judges find the proof.”
Her comments came after she and lawyers representing her father visited the Elysée Palace on Monday, December 2nd, to urge France to support a move to get the former Libyan intelligence chief tried at the International Criminal Court in The Hague rather than in Libya where he is currently detained. If tried in Tripoli Senussi, whose conditions of detention have concerned non-governmental organisations, faces the death penalty on war crimes charges.
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Senussi was regarded as one of Gaddafi's closest collaborators and was dubbed the “black box” because of his knowledge of what went on in the regime, which was toppled by civil war in 2011. He was also, through the arms dealer Ziad Takieddine, a key link in the close relations between Nicolas Sarkozy and Gaddafi's regime before the 2011 civil war in which France backed the rebels and which led to Gaddafi's death in October of that year.
In the interview with Mediapart, which took place at the Paris offices of Abdullah Senussi's lawyer Rachel Lindon, law student Anoud Senussi said that her father was “ready to collaborate with the French justice system so that the truth comes out” over the claims of Sarkozy's corruption in 2007, allegations the former president denies. Anoud Senussi, who is living in exile in Cairo with her family, said: “My father has a problem with Sarkozy...my father was always very surprised by the war started by France. He said: 'I don't understand. I helped him to be president.'”
During her meeting with officials at the Elysée on Monday, the former spy chief’s daughter called on France to use its diplomatic influence to get her father tried at the ICC in Holland. “I'm not asking for my father to be set free. I am asking for a fair trial,” she told Mediapart. Contacted by Mediapart the Elysée confirmed the visit and said it had listened to the arguments of Abdullah Senussi's lawyers but refused to give any more details or say what course of action it intended to take.
However, it seems unlikely that the Elysée can do much to change Senussi's situation. The ICC has already ruled that the former intelligence head can be tried in Libya on charges that he was responsible for the killing of civilians during the 2011 uprising.
Below is an edited version of Mediapart's interview with Abdullah Senussi's daughter Anoud Senussi.
Mediapart: What are you hoping for from your visit to France?
Anoud Senoussi: I've come to France to see government representatives because it's the country of human rights. That's why I've come knocking on the door here. France is a country with political influence which can put pressure on the Libyan government so that my father can be judged by the International Criminal Court, which is what he is seeking. My father knows lots of secrets about France, more precisely about when Mr Sarkozy was its president. You know, it was my father's job to have secrets. Today my father is in prison in Libya in the hands of Abdelhakim Belhadj, a former prisoner at Guantanamo, and linked with Al Qaeda. It would be very dangerous if, by one means or another, Al Qaeda were to find out certain secrets that my father knows.
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Mediapart: Have you met political leaders to plead your father's cause?
A.S.: Yesterday, with my father's lawyers, I met officials from the French presidency. But you'll understand that I can't tell you anything more. That discussion must remain confidential.
Mediapart: In his last television interview, on August 21st, 2011, your father spoke about the Libyan regime's financing of Nicolas Sarkozy in 2007. He talked about the existence of proof, of traces of the payments. What do you know about that?
A.S.: When I was still in Libya I often heard talk in my father's official entourage that the Gaddafi regime gave money to Sarkozy. This secret is not only damaging for Sarkozy. It is also bad for the history of France, and also Libya. From what I know, the United States and England, too, are afraid of certain secrets being revealed
Mediapart: Do you think that your father knows where the evidence for this funding can be found?
A.S.: Of course! My father never says anything that he can't prove. That's his job. In his work I know that he recorded a lot. My father knows where the proof of the funding can be found, of course. I don't. He was not the kind to confide this kind of secret to women or the family's children. My father was always very surprised by the war started by France. He said: 'I don't understand. I helped him to be president. Why is he now fighting us? If we hadn't helped him he would not have been president.' I personally heard him say that at the end of 2011.
Mediapart: Is your father ready to give evidence to the judges in charge of investigating the suspicions of hidden funding by Libya of Mr Sarkozy?
A.S.: Of course. My father is ready to collaborate with the French justice system so that the truth comes out about this affair. He can help the judges find the evidence. My father has a problem with Sarkozy, that's for sure. But not with the French government. Not with President François Hollande. He can help and give all the information about Sarkozy. You know, my father is a tough nut.
Mediapart: Why didn't the former Libyan leaders, including your father, make public the proof they say they have of French corruption?
A.S.: I know that the strategy was to hold back the evidence so they could negotiate until the last minute. But that didn't work. Now my father can help the French justice system.
Mediapart: Your father is accused of having been the brains behind several decades of terror in Libya. What do you say about the very serious accusations laid against him?
A.S.: I know what he is accused of. I don't believe he is responsible for everything. I'm not asking for my father to be set free. I am asking for a fair trial, for him to be able to meet lawyers, for family visits and legally-precise charges. Today he has none of that. They are going to kill him in Libya.
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English version by Michael Streeter