FALCON POWERS – Leaked photos of the imprisoned son of the late Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi, Hannibal Gaddafi, in a small underground cell in Lebanon have raised concerns in the North African country. The Libyan authorities have called for improvements in his detention conditions.
The photos revealed a windowless room, cluttered with belongings, where Hannibal Gaddafi is being held, along with a small bed and toilet. The local channel “Al Jadeed” quoted the prisoner as saying, “I live in misery,” adding that he is a political prisoner in a case about which he has no information.
The Libyan Ministry of Justice issued a statement stating that Gaddafi is being deprived of his rights guaranteed by the law. It urged the Lebanese authorities to improve his living conditions to a level that preserves his dignity. The ministry also stated that Gaddafi deserves to be released.
On Monday, two Lebanese judicial officials confirmed to the Associated Press that the photos broadcasted by “Al Jadeed” were of Gaddafi and the cell where he has been held for years in a police facility in Beirut.
Gaddafi appeared to be in good health, with a light beard and wearing glasses.
A person in regular contact with Gaddafi, a Libyan citizen, stated that the photos were taken in recent days. What happened to Hannibal Gaddafi?
Gaddafi has been detained in Lebanon since 2015 after being abducted from neighboring Syria, where he was living as a political refugee. He was kidnapped by Lebanese gunmen who demanded information about the fate of prominent Lebanese cleric Musa al-Sadr, who disappeared during a trip to Libya in 1978.
The fate of al-Sadr remains a sensitive issue in Lebanon, with his family believing that he may still be alive in a Libyan prison, although most Lebanese assume that al-Sadr, who is now 95 years old, has died.
Hannibal Gaddafi went on a hunger strike in June of last year and was transferred to a hospital after his health deteriorated.
After his abduction in 2015, the Lebanese authorities released him, but then re-arrested him, accusing him of withholding information about al-Sadr’s disappearance.
