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VIDEO: Melinda Taylor addresses The Hague (ABC News)Australian lawyer Melinda Taylor has spoken publicly for the first time since her release from Libyan custody, saying a fair trial cannot be granted to the son of deposed Libyan dictator Moamar Gaddafi.
Last month, Ms Taylor and three of her International Criminal Court colleagues were arrested in the town of Zintan on spying allegations.
She had been accused of trying to smuggle a secret letter to Moamar Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam, who is being held by local militia in Zintan and is wanted by the ICC.
She was held for 26 days before her release.
Speaking in The Hague, Ms Taylor said it will not be possible for the younger Gaddafi to get a fair trial.
"Irrespective of any issues concerning my own personal conduct, the rights of my client, Mr Seif al-Islam, were irrevocably prejudiced during my visit to Zintan," she said.
"It is the position of the defence that these recent events have completely underscored that it will be impossible for Mr Gaddafi to be tried in an independent and impartial manner in Libyan courts."
Ms Taylor said that during her detention, she was never given a decision on the legal basis for her arrest or for the search and seizure of privileged documents.
"Amongst other things, the Libyan authorities deliberately mislead the defence concerning whether the visit with Mr Gaddafi would be monitored," she said.
She said authorities also "seized documents which were covered by legal professional privilege and ICC protective orders".
Ms Taylor said defence lawyers will give their side of the story to ICC judges in writing no later than next Wednesday.
She also touched on personal matters, and said it was "wonderful" to be back in The Hague.
She said during her detention the four ICC members were allowed to have one five-minute telephone conversation with their families.
The three other people working with her were told they were free to leave at the beginning of the saga, but chose to stay and support their colleague.
"As you can imagine, speaking to my two-year-old daughter under such circumstances was both an emotional lifeline and heart breaking," Ms Taylor said.
Seif has been in custody in Zintan since his arrest on November 19 in the wake of the uprising that toppled his father after more than 40 years in power.
The ICC wants both Seif and his late father's spymaster, Abdullah Senussi, for crimes against humanity committed while trying to put down last year's bloody revolt.
Tripoli and the ICC have been at loggerheads since Seif's capture over where he should be tried, with Libya arguing it could put him in the dock before a local court.
On May 1, officials asked the court's judges to quash a surrender request and throw out the case.
The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Seif and Senussi in June 2011, and wants to see them tried in The Hague.
ABC/AFP
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