New twist in the Hannibal Gaddafi case in Lebanon

The case is worthy of a Hitchcock thriller. He was kidnapped on the Syrian border in 2015, then recaptured in a raid by the Internal Security Forces (ISF)’s intelligence service, and detained without trial ever since. Hannibal Gaddafi, 47, a son of deposed Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, is back in the news.

This dismal case has surfaced once again, with a Libyan delegation’s visit to Beirut last week to enquire about the case’s progress.

The delegation, which included an official from the Tripoli-based Justice Ministry, judges and security officers, met with caretaker Minister of Justice Henry Khoury, investigative Judge Zaher Hamadeh, and the head of the case committee Hassan Shami.

Gaddafi was prosecuted under Lebanese justice for allegedly concealing information concerning the disappearance of Lebanese Shiite imam and Amal movement founder Musa al-Sadr. The imam disappeared in Libya in September 1978 — Gaddafi was only two years old at the time.

He has been hospitalized twice since going on hunger strike in June and has declared himself “a political prisoner.” Because of this statement, he was charged with contempt of court. This accusation was later on converted into another accusation, that of concealment of information.

Determined to find a solution to his incarceration, which lawyers and human rights associations have deemed “arbitrary”, the Libyan delegation met with Lebanese judicial authorities to settle the case.

A second visit this week

The Lebanese side said that the Libyan authorities’ intervention was “surprising,” as they had “never shown any sign of willingness to cooperate,” before.

“The Lebanese delegation has made several trips to Libya, with the last visit dating back to 2016, in a bid to obtain information, based on a memorandum signed in March 2014 between the two countries. But to date, no progress has been made in the file and the Libyans have not provided us with any relevant data,” Shami told L’Orient-Le Jour.

Shami added that during this latest visit, the Libyan delegation promised to answer the Lebanese requests for “information on the whereabouts of 13 political and security figures” affiliated with the former regime.

These figures include Abdallah Senussi, who has been imprisoned in Libya since November 2011, Abdessalam Jalloud, former Libyan prime minister who resigned in 1977 (a year before Sadr’s disappearance) and obtained political refugee status in Italy, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the late dictator’s second son, who is the subject of an arrest warrant issued in 2011 by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity, and Moussa Koussa, former head of Libya’s intelligence services (between 1994 to 2009), who fled to London since 2011.

Sources told L’Orient-Le Jour that the Libyan delegation is set to return to Lebanon this week, likely to answer to the requests.

“When we obtain information from the solicited people, Hannibal Gaddafi can be released,” said Shami. “The grounds on which Hannibal Gaddafi has been imprisoned for more than eight years could thus be withheld,” noted Shami. He referred to the case as a “diplomatic, political and security issue par excellence.”

“We are in an area that goes beyond mere legal rules. Musa al-Sadr is an eminent figure, and the case involves state security-related considerations,” added Shami.

Shami explained that, during Hannibal’s interrogation, the detainee gave important information to judicial authorities, in particular the names of the prisons in which Imam Sadr had allegedly been held. “He then indicated that he would say no more unless he was released and placed on a plane” to return to Syria, where he resided with his family in asylum.

According to his lawyers, these confessions were “extracted under torture.” Human Rights Watch (HRW) echoed this argument. In a Jan. 16 press release, HRW associate director for the Middle East and North Africa Division, Hanan Salah, said the prolonged “pretrial detention makes a mockery of Lebanon’s already strained judicial system,”

HRW recalled the highlights of the case and the legal loopholes. The organization cited the letter sent in July 2023 to ISF director Imad Othman, and to the judge, Zaher Hamadeh, requesting information about the case and the judicial status of the detainee, whose health was beginning to deteriorate.

Despite this, HRW “has not received a response,” and accused Beirut of withholding more substantial information about the legal procedure and reasons behind Gaddafi’s continued detention.

According to HRW, this is contrary to the basic rules of international law, in particular, the right of the detainee to be informed of the reasons for his detention and to be brought before a court to have the case decided.

‘Sacredness of an imam’

On May 19, 2016, Gaddafi’s lawyers addressed the Court of Cassation, presided by Judge Joseph Samaha, who is “renowned for his integrity,” for the case to be dismissed, according to corroborating sources.

“Samaha cited ‘legitimate suspicions’ and pointed to errors made by investigative judge Zaher Hamadeh and his impartiality when he decided to prosecute Hannibal Gaddafi for a crime that did not fall within his jurisdiction.

However, a week later, the plenary assembly of the court, chaired at the time by Jean Fahed, annulled the effects of Judge Samaha’s decision. The case went back to square one,” said Nizar Saghieh, executive director of the Legal Agenda.

“Since then, no one has challenged the procedural flaws,” added the legal expert, who believes that it is “a flagrant arbitrary detention.”

This information was confirmed by former judge Joseph Samaha. Speaking to L’Orient-Le Jour, Samaha said he and the other two judges had not been invited to the plenary assembly’s meeting. “The seven judges present committed a major act of insubordination, knowing that the Court of Cassation’s decision cannot be appealed,” the judge said.

On Jan. 24, 2017, the criminal court judge in Beirut, Ghassan Khoury, ordered the release of Hannibal Gaddafi.

L’Orient-Le Jour also learned that Judge Hamadeh — who is reputed to be “close to Parliament Speaker and Amal leader Nabih Berri , as well as Hassan Shami,” an information confirmed by several corroborating sources — had also initiated proceedings against the detainee, bypassing the public prosecution’s decision. The public prosecution’s office, chaired at the time by Samir Hammoud, had found no reason to prosecute the detainee.

In 2019, as the case continued to attract media attention and international interest, Salim Jreissati, who was justice minister at the time, decided to take action.

On Jan. 9, he asked the head of the Judicial Inspection Authority to provide an update on the case and to check the circumstances and judicial relevance of Gaddafi’s continued imprisonment.

Jreissati’s request came on the heels of a series of requests made by Libyan officials who were trying to force the release of Gaddafi, and also by the Russians who intervened at the diplomatic level.

The next day, Amal MP Ali Bazzi immediately reacted. In a statement, he attacked Jreissati head-on, saying that he had “dared to violate law and procedure, to question a right and alter a truth, attacking the sacredness of an imam that is tantamount to the sacredness of the whole nation.” Bazzi accused the minister of “distilling poison.”

Although Jreisati told L’Orient-Le Jour he was not aware of Judge Samaha’s decision, he did say that the Judicial Inspection Authority, chaired at the time by Judge Bourkan Saad, saw no reason to prosecute the judge concerned (Judge Hamadeh).

“The Judicial Inspection Authority did not find any judicial shortcomings,” said Jreissati. However, HRW said that the opinion of “the Judicial Inspection Authority has never been made public.”

“This case can only be justified under the law if there is indeed concealment of information or active complicity in the kidnapping of Imam Sadr. This seems absurd given that Hannibal was only two years old,” said Jreissati.

This article was originally published in French in L'Orient-Le Jour. Translation by Joelle El Khoury.