Gaddafi's Son to Appear in Lebanese Court After 8 Years

The son of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, Hannibal Gaddafi, who has been detained in Lebanon for about a decade, will appear before a Lebanese court for the first time in eight years. The hearing is scheduled for October 17, which is a rare development in this long and complicated case.

49-year-old Gaddafi, whose wife is Lebanese, was arrested in December 2015. He was charged with "concealing information" regarding the disappearance of the founder of the "Amal" movement, Shiite Imam Musa Sadr, and his two companions, journalist Abbas Badreddine and cleric Mohammad Yaacoub, in Libya in August 1978. It is noteworthy that at the time of the disappearance of the imam and his companions, Hannibal Gaddafi was only three years old, and it is highly doubtful how well-founded it is to assume that he was an accomplice or informed.

However, an unexpected development has occurred in the case. The family of the disappeared journalist, Badreddine, which is the aggrieved party in the case, agreed in June to Gaddafi's request to be released. After that, the judge hearing the case, Zaher Hamadeh, transferred the case to the Attorney General of the Court of Cassation, Jamal Hajjar, for an opinion. However, the prosecutor refused to express a position, leaving the final decision to the investigating judge.

The story of Hannibal Gaddafi's appearance in Lebanon is no less dramatic. On December 11, 2015, he was abducted in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley by an armed group, which reportedly included the son of one of the disappeared clerics, former MP Hassan Yaacoub. After being released by the kidnappers and handed over to the Lebanese Internal Security Forces, Gaddafi was initially summoned to court as a witness, but later Judge Hamadeh charged him.

After receiving treatment in a hospital for several days, Hannibal Gaddafi was recently returned to prison. His legal team has tried to visit him, but has not yet received permission.