Hannibal Gaddafi, the youngest son of Libya’s former leader Muammar Gaddafi, has finally been released by Lebanese authorities after spending almost ten years behind bars without facing trial.
His detention had drawn criticism from human rights organizations who described it as unjust and politically motivated.
Gaddafi, 49, was first arrested in 2015 over allegations that he had hidden details about the disappearance of Lebanese Shia cleric Musa al-Sadr in 1978. At the time of the cleric’s disappearance, Gaddafi was just two years old, and he held no official role in Libya as an adult.
His lawyer, Laurent Bayon, confirmed that Gaddafi’s release came after his $900,000 (£682,938) bail was paid. “It’s the end of a nightmare for him that lasted 10 years,” Bayon told AFP.
Bayon also revealed that his client would depart Lebanon for a “confidential” destination. He criticized Lebanon’s judiciary, saying, “If Gaddafi was able to be arbitrarily detained in Lebanon for 10 years, it’s because the justice system was not independent,” according to AFP.
In October, a judge had initially set Gaddafi’s bail at $11 million, but his defense team successfully appealed for a reduction last week.
Gaddafi had previously been briefly kidnapped by an armed group in Lebanon in 2015 before being placed in official custody. Following the fall of his father in 2011, he fled to Syria and later lived under house arrest in Oman with his wife, Aline Skaf.
Before his father’s overthrow, Hannibal Gaddafi was widely known for his extravagant lifestyle.
The case of Musa al-Sadr’s disappearance has long strained relations between Lebanon and Libya. Despite being accused of concealing information about the cleric, Gaddafi was only a toddler at the time and has never held a position of authority in Libya.
