Lebanon releases Hannibal Gaddafi on 11-million-dollar bail

According to Rokna, citing Lebanese media, Hannibal Gaddafi appeared before Judge Zahir Hamadeh at the Beirut Palace of Justice for the first time since his arrest nearly a decade ago. His defense team stated that their client does not possess the required sum for bail, stressing that he had been arbitrarily detained for ten years and that the amount demanded was unreasonable.

The defense further noted that all of Gaddafi’s assets have been frozen and subject to sanctions since 2012. While most of his brothers have managed to have their sanctions lifted and regain access to their assets, Hannibal has been unable to do so due to his prolonged detention and the charges brought against him in Lebanon. The defense described the bail amount as “unrealistic” and urged the judiciary to reconsider the decision in accordance with their client’s legal and humanitarian circumstances.

Hannibal Gaddafi was detained in December 2015 after being lured from Syria to Lebanon in what his family and lawyers later described as a kidnapping operation. Lebanese authorities at the time said the arrest was linked to the 1978 disappearance of Imam Musa al-Sadr and his two companions in Libya.

Despite being only two years old at the time of Sadr’s disappearance, Gaddafi was accused of withholding information about the case. His years-long pretrial detention at the Lebanese Internal Security Forces headquarters in Beirut sparked widespread criticism both locally and internationally regarding the legality of his detention and the nature of the charges against him.

Gaddafi’s legal team has repeatedly claimed that he was subjected to mistreatment while in custody and that he had no knowledge of Imam Sadr’s fate. They argued that his continued detention constituted a violation of human rights and contravened both Lebanese and international law.

Earlier, the Lebanese judiciary had conditioned Gaddafi’s release on Libya’s cooperation in providing information related to the case of Imam Musa al-Sadr and his companions.

In response, the family of Imam Musa al-Sadr issued a statement urging all people of conscience in Lebanon and around the world to stand by the cause of the kidnapped cleric and his companions. They described the case as a “continuing crime” perpetrated by Muammar Gaddafi’s regime and all those who still conceal information that could lead to the truth.

The statement noted that despite the fall of the Gaddafi regime more than fourteen years ago, those accused in the case continue to evade judicial questioning. It also criticized the decade-long failure to implement a memorandum of understanding between Lebanon and Libya, calling it evidence of ongoing negligence and collusion.

The Sadr family rejected claims made by individuals identifying themselves as Hannibal Gaddafi’s defense team, denouncing such statements as “deliberate media distortion.” They reaffirmed that, despite enduring more than forty-five years of pain and patience, they will never accept injustice or revenge.

The statement explained that Lebanese authorities received Hannibal Gaddafi in 2015 under an arrest warrant issued by Public Prosecutor Samir Hammoud, based on an Interpol request. He was initially treated as a witness in the Sadr case due to his previous role as an army officer under the former Libyan regime and his supervision of several secret prisons.

However, after his release, Gaddafi refused to disclose the information he reportedly possessed, leading to his arrest on charges of concealing evidence. According to the Sadr family, the investigation revealed his involvement in covering up the crime, prompting legal action against him for complicity in the kidnapping that, they say, continued until his recent release.

The family concluded that the duration of Gaddafi’s detention was determined based on the seriousness of the charges and the authority of the investigating judge.