Libya frees Australian lawyer - Telegraph Australian lawyer Melinda Taylor and Lebanese-born interpreter Helene Assaf were held in the town of Zintan and accused of smuggling documents and hidden recording devices to Muammar Gaddafi's captured son Saif al-Islam. Two male ICC staff who were travelling with the pair stayed with them. The four were freed on Monday after an apology from the ICC, whose president, Sang-Hyun Song, travelled to Zintan for the release after weeks of pressure from The Hague-based court, the UN Security Council, Nato and the Australian government. Ms Taylor had been sent to Libya to represent Saif al-Islam, whom the ICC wants extradited to face charges of war crimes allegedly committed during the Nato-backed revolt that toppled his father last year. Libya has so far refused to extradite him, saying it would prefer to try him in its own courts. Judicial experts say Saif al-Islam is unlikely to get a fair trial in Libya, where the arrests of the ICC officials only served to highlight the challenges the interim government faces in imposing its authority on the myriad militias who helped topple Gaddafi and are now vying for power.