German Federal Prosecutor’s Office opened an investigation against the Libyan leader, Muammar Gadhafi, for possible crimes against humanity, in Libya, announced a spokesman on Wednesday.
However, it is “unlikely” that Germany will issue an arrest warrant for the Libyan leader or ever bring him to justice.
“The federal prosecutor is investigating at the moment, only to collect evidence here in Germany for the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague”, said federal prosecutor’s office spokesman, Stefan Schmidt.
ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo asked judges in mid-May to issue arrest warrants, for crimes against humanity, against Colonel Muammar Gadhafi, his son’s Seif al-Islam and Abdallah al-Senoussi, Libyan information director.
Federal Prosecutor’s Office was informed, by several complaints, about the actions of the regime in Tripoli, during fighting against the rebellion, affecting the country since mid-February.
One of them is about shelling civilians with rockets launched by the Libyan military, in mid-March, in Brega port city, which killed several people, including members of the rebellion, and a German businessman, Juergen Todenhoefer , who was on a visit in Libya.
“This missile incident is the starting point that allows the German judiciary to investigate, but we are studying all the events” of the Libyan conflict, said the spokesman.
Germany has, since 2002, a law that allows it to investigate the authors of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes worldwide.
Germany refused to participate in NATO operations to protect Libyan civilians against abuses of Gadhafi regime.