Geneva reponse sought to defuse Libyan crisis

The Libyan lawyer of jailed Swiss businessman Max Göldi is calling on Genevan justice authorities to take action to help his client.

This follows an extraordinary meeting on Monday between Hannibal Gaddafi and Göldi, the head of engineering firm ABB’s Libyan branch, who began serving a four-month jail term in Tripoli last Monday for visa violations.

The Swiss was initially detained by LIbyan authorities 19 months ago in apparent retaliation for the arrest of Gaddafi, the son of the Libya’s leader Muammar Gaddafi, and his pregnant wife in a five-star Geneva hotel.

The Gaddafis were charged by Geneva police following complaints of mistreatment by domestic employees, although the allegations were later dropped.

However, Libyan authorities were angered by the “humiliation” suffered by the Gaddafi couple, who were detained for two days before being able to leave after posting a bond of more than 500,000 francs.

What particularly rankled the ruling family was the publication of police photos of Hannibal Gaddafi, leaked to the Tribune de Genève, and in response it severed normal bilateral relations with Switzerland.

“To favour the liberation of my client the Swiss authorities should show themselves to be more co-operative,” said Saleh Zahaf, Göldi’s lawyer said, according to a report published Tuesday by the Tribune.

“That concerns principally the circumstances of the arrest of Hannibal Gaddafi and above all the distribution of photos of his arrest,” Zahaf said.

Hannibal Gaddafi last week telephoned Göldi’s lawyer to offer his support for the Swiss, despite an ongoing acrimonious diplomatic dispute between Libya and Switzerland.

On Monday, in an appearance tailored for media consumption, a clean-shaven Gaddafi, casually dressed in an open-neck short, jacket and jeans, talked in a friendly and relaxed manner with the Swiss hostage.

In front of a pack of journalists, Göldi citicized the newspaper publication of the photos of Gaddafi while being arrested.

The bearded Swiss appeared to be in good health after his long sojourn in Libya, spent largely in the safety of the Swiss embassy in Tripoli.

He earlier spent time in jail with another Swiss detainee, businessman Rachid Hamdani, who was released last week and returned to Switzerland after being cleared of the same charges leveled against Göldi.

Geneva authorities have yet to respond to the appeal from Göldi’s lawyer, other than to reiterate a statement issued by cantonal justice authorities last month.

On February 18, Daniel Zappelli, the canton’s attorney general, and examining magistrate Alix Francotte-Conus stated in a press release that an investigation was ongoing into the release of the police photos to the Tribune de Genève.

Zappelli said he immediately ordered a criminal investigation after the publication on September 4 of the photos by the newspaper.

The investigation is being led by Francotte-Conus, vice-president of the Geneva college of examining magsitrates.

The release of the photos was an “inadmissable” violation of confidentiality, as spelled out in article 320 of the Swiss penal code, the pair said in their joint statement.

“The competent Geneva authorities reiterate with vigor their determination to pursue the inquiry in order to found out the person, or persons, responsible for these disclosures and to have him or them judged according to the law in effect.”

However, while this investigation continues, the Genevan government up until now has staunchly defended the actions of the police arrest of the Gaddafis, noting that no one in the canton is above the law.

And the government reacted strongly last year when federal cabinet minister Hans Rudolf-Merz, then serving as Swiss president, travelled to Tripoli to issue a personal apology to the Libyan government for the “unjust arrest” of the Gaddafis.

Rudolf-Merz’s visit was aimed at restoring normal bilateral relations between Switzerland and Libya, as well as securing the release of the Swiss detainees, but it appeared to have little effect.

The dispute now has grown to include the European Union after Libya stopped issuing visas to the 25 member countries of the Schengen agreement, the passport-free zone that includes Switzerland.

This came in response to a blacklist of high-ranking Libyans including Colonel Gaddafi by the Swiss government last year.

Meanwhile, the unpredictable Libyan leader poured oil on the fire last week by calling for Muslims to pursue a “jihad” or struggle against Switzerland for its decision, endorsed by citizens in a referendum, to ban the construction of new minarets.

Gaddafi urged Muslims to boycott Swiss goods, even as diplomats reported progress in mending relations between the two countries.

Several hundred Libyan students demonstrated outside the Swiss embassy on Monday morning in response to the leader's call.

Riot police kept the students at bay, according to reports that indicated the demonstrators had been bused to the embassy.

Hannibal Gaddafi’s visit on Monday merely compounds the mixed messages coming from the North African country.