An undated picture allegedly found in Hannibal Gaddafi's personal laptop and released by Libyan National Transitional Council fighters on Sept. 27, 2011. (Credit: AFP)
The health of Hannibal Gaddafi, one of the sons of former Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi, is “alarming,” his lawyer, Laurent Bayon, told AFP on Wednesday, calling for the release of his client, who has been held in Lebanon for nearly 10 years without trial.
Gaddafi was arrested in December 2015 by Lebanese authorities, who are seeking information about the 1978 disappearance of Amal Movement founder Musa Sadr in Libya.
L’Orient Today reported last Thursday that Gaddafi had been taken to a Beirut hospital emergency room. Bayon said Wednesday that the hospitalization occurred “at the request of the attorney general due to extremely severe abdominal pain, with a serious depressive background.”
“The judges and doctors explain that this alarming condition is linked to his isolation and the fact that his detention has lasted 10 years,” Bayon added. Gaddafi, 49, was returned to prison Tuesday, the lawyer said, but will now “receive extremely frequent monitoring.”
In August, Human Rights Watch called for the “immediate release” of Gaddafi, who is being detained based on “apparently unfounded allegations that he has information” about Sadr’s disappearance. Lebanese authorities have repeatedly accused Moammar Gaddafi of responsibility for the disappearance of Sadr and two companions in 1978. His son was two years old at the time.
Hajjar ‘not opposed’ to release
Moammar Gaddafi was killed during Libya’s 2011 uprising. Hannibal, who is married to a Lebanese model, had fled to Syria. In 2015, he was kidnapped by armed men who transferred him to Lebanon, where authorities took custody of him before placing him under arrest.
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who succeeded Sadr, has accused Libya’s post-Gaddafi authorities of failing to cooperate in the case.
“One could say that Hannibal Gaddafi is a political prisoner,” Bayon said, arguing that “the only reason he is being held is because he bears his father’s name.” He said Gaddafi’s release was “imperative.”
Bayon said he met Tuesday with Attorney General at the Court of Cassation Jamal Hajjar, “who assured me he had submitted his opinion to the investigating judge, who must now decide” on a new release request.
A Lebanese judicial source told AFP that Prosecutor Hajjar “was not opposed” to the release. On Tuesday, Gaddafi’s lawyers urged that the release decision be made “without political interference” or negotiation with Libya.
In a statement Monday, Libya’s Ministry of Justice said it “holds the Lebanese authorities responsible” for Gaddafi’s deteriorating health. The ministry said Libya had “shown cooperation” in the case and had sent an official memorandum to the Lebanese judiciary in April, proposing a resolution.
