Melinda Taylor is an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

criminal lawyer who was arrested and detained in

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

in 2012 after being assigned by the

International Criminal Court The International Criminal Court (ICC or ICCt) is an intergovernmental organization and international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute individuals ...

to defend

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi Saif al-Islam Muammar al-Gaddafi ( ar, سيف الإسلام معمر القذافي; born 25 June 1972) is a Libyan political figure. He is the second son of the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and his second wife Safia Farkash. He was a p ...

, the son of

Muammar Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi, . Due to the lack of standardization of transcribing written and regionally pronounced Arabic, Gaddafi's name has been romanized in various ways. A 1986 column by ''The Straight Dope'' lists 32 spellin ...

Early life and education

Taylor is from

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

. She graduated from the

University of Queensland , mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work , established = , endowment = A$224.3 million , budget = A$2.1 billion , type = Public research university , chancellor = Peter Varghese , vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry , city = B ...

with an arts/law degree in 1998.

Career

Taylor worked as a victims' advocate and in international criminal law. She worked as a researcher for

Antonio Cassese Antonio Cassese (1 January 1937 – 21 October 2011) was an Italian jurist who specialized in public international law. He was the first President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the first President of the Sp ...

, president of the

International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was a body of the United Nations that was established to prosecute the war crimes that had been committed during the Yugoslav Wars and to try their perpetrators. The tribunal ...

. Taylor helped set up the International Criminal Court's public defence counsel in 2006 and worked on defence cases before Tribunals in Yugoslavia and

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

. She was assigned to provide assistance to

Slobodan Milošević Slobodan Milošević (, ; 20 August 1941 – 11 March 2006) was a Yugoslav and Serbian politician who was the president of Serbia within Yugoslavia from 1989 to 1997 (originally the Socialist Republic of Serbia, a constituent republic of ...

when he refused counsel during his

trial In law, a trial is a coming together of Party (law), parties to a :wikt:dispute, dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence (law), evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to Adjudication, adjudicate claims or d ...

. In 2012, Taylor was detained along with her interpreter Helen Assaf from

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

, Alexander Khodakov, a diplomat from

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, and Esteban Peralta Losilla, a legal expert from

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. They were accused of spying by carrying coded documents to Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, their client. Taylor was accused of smuggling a miniature video camera pen and watch. Taylor was arrested and although her colleagues were released, they chose to remain with her. They were detained in the Libyan town of

Zintan Zintan ( ar, الزنتان Latin: Tentheos, Berber language: ''Zintan'' or ''Tigharmin'' or ''Tiɣaṛmin'', meaning "small castles") is one of the biggest cities in north western Libya, situated roughly southwest of Tripoli, in the area. The ...

on 7 June. It was the first time an International Criminal Court official had been seized. The president of the court, Sang-Hyun Song, demanded Taylor's immediate release, claiming she had immunity as she was on an official mission. Many diplomatic officials, including

Australian Foreign Minister The Minister for Foreign Affairs (commonly shortened to Foreign Minister) is the minister in the Government of Australia who is responsible for overseeing the international diplomacy section of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Senato ...

Bob Carr Robert John Carr (born 28 September 1947) is an Australian retired politician and journalist who served as the 39th Premier of New South Wales from 1995 to 2005, as the leader of the NSW Branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). He later en ...

, who flew to

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to: Cities and other geographic units Greece *Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in ...

, lobbied for their release. In order to secure her release, the court apologised to the

Libyan rebels Demographics of Libya is the demography of Libya, specifically covering population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, and religious affiliations, as well as other aspects of the Libyan population. The ...

for the incident and promised to investigate Taylor and her colleagues. They were released on 3 July and flown to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

on a plane provided by the Italian government. On 17 January 2013, charges of breaching national security were brought in a Zintan court against al-Islam, and against Taylor and her colleague

in absentia is Latin for absence. , a legal term, is Latin for "in the absence" or "while absent". may also refer to: * Award in absentia * Declared death in absentia, or simply, death in absentia, legally declared death without a body * Election in absen ...

. In 2016, Taylor led

Julian Assange Julian Paul Assange ( ; Hawkins; born 3 July 1971) is an Australian editor, publisher, and activist who founded WikiLeaks in 2006. WikiLeaks came to international attention in 2010 when it published a series of leaks provided by U.S. Army inte ...

's case before the UN

Working Group on Arbitrary Detention The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) is a body of independent human rights experts that investigate cases of arbitrary arrest and detention. Arbitrary arrest and detention is the imprisonment or detainment of an individual, by a State, wi ...

and has been part of his legal team since 2014. Taylor also advises the

Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media The Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media (SPM) is a group of academics and activists whose stated purpose is to study propaganda and information operations surrounding the Syrian civil war. It was formed by environmental political theor ...

and, according to ''

The Daily Beast ''The Daily Beast'' is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. It was founded in 2008. It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief from 2018 to 2021. In a 20 ...

'' and

New Lines Magazine Fairfax University of America (FXUA, formerly Virginia International University) is a private university in Fairfax, Virginia. It was established in 1998, and then as a non-profit 501(c)(3) university in 1999. The university is certified to opera ...

in April 2021, has been in contact with one of its members, Paul McKeigue, since at least September 2019 after

WikiLeaks WikiLeaks () is an international Nonprofit organization, non-profit organisation that published news leaks and classified media provided by anonymous Source (journalism), sources. Julian Assange, an Australian Internet activism, Internet acti ...

helped him get free legal advice. According to the outlets, she sent McKeigue "legal advice memorandum" that detailed litigious claims that could be made against the

Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is an intergovernmental organisation and the implementing body for the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), which entered into force on 29 April 1997. The OPCW, with its 193 member ...

(OPCW). According to emails linked in the articles, the memo led to Taylor’s husband,

Geoffrey Roberts Geoffrey Roberts (born 1952) is a British historian of World War II working at University College Cork. He specializes in Soviet diplomatic and military history of World War II. He was professor of modern history at University College Cork (UCC ...

, representing former OPCW employee Brendan Whelan who criticized the group’s investigations and leaked material to WikiLeaks.

Personal life

Taylor is married to Geoffrey Roberts, who is also an International Criminal Court lawyer. They live in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Melinda Australian people imprisoned abroad Australian women lawyers Lawyers from Brisbane Living people Prisoners and detainees of Libya University of Queensland alumni Year of birth missing (living people) Julian Assange People associated with WikiLeaks