[JURIST] An Egyptian court on Wednesday rejected the extradition of Ahmed Qaddaf al-Dam, cousin and former close aide of ousted dictator Muammar Gaddafi [BBC obituary; JURIST news archive], to Libya. The country’s administrative court held that Qaddaf al-Dam should be tried in Egypt. It reasoned that because Qaddaf al-Dam was an asylum seeker and was subject to possible risk of unfair trial, Egypt was obliged to respect [AP report] his request of not being extradited. Wednesday’s ruling came a week after Egypt extradited two former Libyan officials [JURIST report] who were charged with corruption for their roles during the 2011 Libya Conflict [JURIST backgrounder]. Libya has asked Egypt to extradite around 100 other former officials.

Qaddaf al-Dam was arrested at his home [JURIST report] in central Cairo by Libyan forces last month. The case of Qaddaf al-Dam marks the latest in a series of trials concerning those responsible for the Gaddafi regime following the uprising in Libya. The trial of 40 former Libyan officials [JURIST report] began earlier in March in al-Zawiya. In January Gaddafi’s son appeared for the first time in court [JURIST report] in Zintan, Libya. In November the trial of former Libyan prime minister [JURIST report] Al Baghdadi Ali al-Mahmoudi began.