Story highlights U.N. human rights office criticizes sentences and verdicts against Gadhafi son, others

Saif al-Islam Gadhafi was charged in the deaths of protesters in the 2011 Libyan revolution

He was once considered the heir apparent to his father, who ruled Libya for over 30 years

(CNN) A Tripoli court sentenced several officials in the former regime of slain Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi to death Tuesday -- including Gadhafi's son Saif al-Islam Gadhafi in absentia -- drawing criticism from the U.N. human rights office.

Saif al-Islam Gadhafi was ordered to face a firing squad for his role in trying to quash the 2011 revolution that led to his father's ouster.

Several other Gadhafi regime officials were also sentenced to death, including former Libyan spy chief Abdullah al-Senussi, former Prime Minister Al-Mahmoudi al-Baghdadi and former foreign intelligence chief Buzeid Dorda.

Saif al-Islam Gadhafi was not at the trial; he was last known to be held by a militia group in the northwestern city of Zintan, where he was held after his capture in November 2011.

Since Gadhafi was not at the trial and Libya is politically and militarily fractured -- Tripoli is home to one of two rival Libyan central governments -- it's not clear what happens to him now.

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