Lebanon court orders son of late Libyan leader Gaddafi freed on $11m bail
A judge in Lebanon has ordered the release on bail and imposed a travel ban on Hannibal Gaddafi, the youngest son of the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who has been held for nearly a decade in pre-trial detention.
Lebanon’s National News Agency confirmed Gaddafi’s bail ruling on Friday in a case related to the kidnapping and disappearance of revered Lebanese Shia leader Musa al-Sadr in Libya.A judge in Lebanon has ordered the release on bail and imposed a travel ban on Hannibal Gaddafi, the youngest son of the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who has been held for nearly a decade in pre-trial detention.
Lebanon’s National News Agency confirmed Gaddafi’s bail ruling on Friday in a case related to the kidnapping and disappearance of revered Lebanese Shia leader Musa al-Sadr in Libya.
The court’s decision was greeted with ridicule by Gaddafi’s lawyer Laurent Bayon.
The “release on bail is totally unacceptable in a case of arbitrary detention. We will challenge the bail,” Bayon told the AFP news agency.
Bayon also said his client “is under international sanctions” and could not pay the large bail fee.
“Where do you want him to find $11m?” Bayon asked.
Lebanese authorities arrested Gaddafi in 2015 and accused him of withholding information about the disappearance of al-Sadr in Libya in 1978 – a case which still grips public attention in Lebanon.
Al-Sadr was an iconic figure in Lebanon when he travelled to meet with then-Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
Founder of the Amal Movement, which is now an ally of Hezbollah, al-Sadr went missing on the visit along with an aide and a journalist, and none have been heard from since.
Al-Sadr’s disappearance has sparked decades of theories and accusations of official involvement by Gaddafi – who was overthrown and killed in a 2011 uprising – and ties between the two countries have been strained since the disappearance.
Lebanon’s parliament speaker, Nabih Berri, who succeeded al-Sadr at the head of the Amal Movement, has accused Libya’s new authorities of not cooperating on the issue of al-Sadr’s disappearance, an accusation Libya denies.
