Judicial officials said that the widow of the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has challenged a court decision in Malta to return Bank Valletta $100 million to Libya, even though it was deposited by Gaddafi’s son, Mutassim.
In their appeal, Safia Farkash Muhammad and her lawyers argued that the Maltese courts were not competent to hear the case, and could not decide a financial case.
The verdict was handed down at the end of June after a legal battle that began in 2012, a year after Gaddafi was toppled and subsequently killed.
Al-Mu'tasim, who was also killed, was found in possession of several credit cards issued by Bank of Valletta as the owner of a company registered in Malta.
The appeal was lodged on behalf of Gaddafi's heirs, Maltese lawyer Luis Cassar Policino, and a date for the hearing has not yet been set.
The original court had upheld the Libyan attorney general's arguments that under Libyan law, al-Mu'tasim, as an army officer, was prohibited from taking advantage of any commercial interests.
Moreover, Al-Mu'tasim did not provide a full declaration of assets as required by law.
In her appeal, Gaddafi's widow said that the Libyan laws on which the case was based are criminal, while no criminal case has been brought against Mutassim or his heirs.