Tunisia Live (Tunis)
Ahmed Ellali
21 December 2011
Mustafa Mohammad Abdul Jalil Fadhil is the current head of the Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC).
He occupied the position of Justice Minister in Qaddafi’s regime. Abdul Jalil is considered to be the first Libyan senior official to defect from Qaddafi’s government and become an opposition leader during the Libyan Crisis.
Abduljalil was born in 1952 in the city of Albaydha, in eastern Libya. In 1970, he enrolled in Gariounes University in Benghazi to continue his academic studies. He graduated in 1975 with a degree in ‘Shariaa and Law’ from the University of Arabic Language and Islamic studies.
At the onset of his career he became prosecutor in his home town of Albaydha. In 1978 Abdul Jalil was promoted to the position of Court Advisor. He became the head of the appeal court in 2002, headed the Albaydha Court in 2006, and finally became the Secretary General of the “People General Committee of Justice” (the Ministry of Justice) from 2004-2007.
On February 21, 2011, he decided to defect from Qaddafi’s regime as an expression of his dissatisfaction with the use of violence against peaceful demonstrators. Abdul Jalil felt that the government’s method of dealing with the uprisings was leading to a crisis. After his defection, he established the NTC on February 27, and was appointed as its president on March 5.
Abdul Jalil was known for his opposition of Qaddafi’s orders even while working within the regime. He was also critical of the Libyan internal security system, which did not respect the decisions of the courts. Libya’s security apparatus was known to imprison people even after they had been released by court orders.
Mustafa Abdul Jalil also presided over some of Libya’s most sensitive cases. One of these trials included an AIDS scandal, involving six Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian Doctor who were accused of having infected approximately 400 children with AIDS. Abdul Jalil was the judge who sentenced them to death after this verdict was lightened by the Libyan Government.
Abdul Jalil is also an avid soccer-fan. He was a player and the head of Alakhdhar football Club in Albaydha.
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