Hannibal Gaddafi, the son of late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who has been detained in Lebanon for nearly a decade, has declared that he rejects any intervention by the Libyan authorities to secure his release.
His French lawyer, Laurent Bayon, told Asharq Al-Awsat that his client was recently hospitalized due to liver complications, and that the legal team faces increasing difficulties in monitoring his health condition.
Bayon said Gaddafi “does not welcome any Libyan involvement in his release efforts because his case is purely humanitarian, not political.” He added that, “Hannibal’s detention is unrelated to politics or negotiations, but rather to justice and human rights. We are not seeking deals or compromises — only the application of the law.”
The lawyer dismissed claims that Gaddafi’s arrest in Syria was based on an Interpol warrant, calling them “misleading.” He explained that Gaddafi had been kidnapped from Syria, beaten, and tortured before being handed over to Lebanon, without any formal extradition request at the time. “This was not a judicial process — it was an illegal abduction disguised as an Interpol operation,” he said.
Bayon stressed that Hannibal Gaddafi is a political prisoner, detained not for any role in the 1978 disappearance of Imam Musa al-Sadr, but “because of his family name.” He was two years old at the time of al-Sadr’s disappearance. “He is paying the price for crimes he never committed,” Bayon said, adding that claims he lives in “five-star detention” are “a cruel mockery of his suffering.”
The lawyer also pointed out that the only formal charge against Gaddafi is withholding information, which under Lebanese law carries a maximum three-year sentence. “Keeping him in prison for ten years violates every principle of proportionality and justice,” he said.
Inas Harraq, a member of the humanitarian legal team, warned that statements by Lebanese officials imply Gaddafi will remain in detention until Libya cooperates in the al-Sadr case — effectively turning him into a political hostage. “This sets a dangerous precedent,” she said, “where an innocent person becomes a bargaining chip between two countries.”
She added that Gaddafi’s kidnappers in Syria were never held accountable, while he remains imprisoned “without trial or justice.”
Libyan Reactions
In Libya, Gaddafi’s hospitalization has sparked renewed concern and calls for his release. Khaled Al-Ghweil, adviser to the Libyan Tribes Union for Foreign Relations, urged Lebanese authorities to “end this vengeful detention,” calling it “a violation of justice.”
Similarly, Jamal Al-Fallah, head of the Libyan Organization for Political Development, said the group “stands in solidarity with Hannibal Gaddafi, who has been held in Lebanon without trial for nearly a decade.”
A source from the Libyan Ministry of Justice told Asharq Al-Awsat that Minister Halima Ibrahim has been in contact with Lebanese officials to inquire about Gaddafi’s condition and explore possible steps for his release.