Australian lawyer faces long detention in Libya

Australian lawyer Melinda Taylor. Photo / AFP

Detained Australian lawyer Melinda Taylor is in good spirits, despite the fact she and her colleagues are facing a lengthy time in detention, Foreign Minister Bob Carr says.

Senator Carr has spoken to Australia's ambassador to Libya, David Ritchie, who met with Ms Taylor in Zintan in the country's north west.

She and three other International Criminal Court (ICC) envoys have been placed in "preventive detention" in prison for 45 days as Libya investigates alleged threats to its national security.

The four-member legal team for Muammar Gaddafi's son, Seif al-Islam, has been held since Thursday in the western town after Ms Taylor was found carrying documents for Seif that were considered a "threat to national security".

Senator Bob Carr said Mr Ritchie found Ms Taylor in good spirits, despite her incarceration.

"He described it as a prison but a new one. A small prison but one where the conditions are good," Senator Carr told ABC radio.

"They're under guard, they're under duress."

He said the Libyans are attaching a great importance to the case.

"The disturbing part of his report is that there's no evidence of a Libyan interest in an early release," he said.

"Indeed, there's the suggestion they might be seeking to hold the detainees for 45 days, which they have said is the time they need for these sort of investigations."

Senator Carr said it was concerning Ms Taylor had been denied the chance to make phone contact with her husband in The Hague and her Brisbane-based parents.

"Nonetheless, Melinda wanted it to be known that her family is not to worry," he said.

"The accommodation is actually surprisingly good - air conditioning, television, fridges with fruit and yoghurt."

Senator Carr said the Australian government would continue to push for full consular access and Ms Taylor's early release.

- AAP