Hommam Al Nassim 
From time to time, the case of the son of the late Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi, Hannibal, who has been detained in Lebanon for nine years, rears its head, without the concerned parties taking any real measures to end this case, whether by reaching a clear conviction, or releasing him.
Roots of the issue
The case of Hannibal, Gaddafi’s fourth son, dates back to 2015, when the Lebanese authorities detained him in pretrial detention to investigate the circumstances of the disappearance of religious leader Musa al-Sadr, head of the Supreme Shiite Council in Lebanon, who celebrated during a visit to Libya in 1978, and the Libyan authorities at the time (the regime of Muammar Gaddafi) denied their involvement in the case of his disappearance, amid continuous suspicions by the Lebanese parties of Gaddafi’s involvement.
International and political circumstances did not allow Lebanon to arrest figures of great political weight, such as Hannibal, before the fall of the Gaddafi regime, which was overthrown by a sweeping attack by NATO forces in March 2011, and the Libyan colonel ended up killed by an armed group that filmed his assassination and sent it to the White House, after which Libya entered a dark tunnel of chaos.
In December 2015, the Lebanese authorities arrested Hannibal after issuing an arrest warrant against him on charges of “withholding information” about al-Sadr’s disappearance, so that Hannibal has been imprisoned since then, pending sufficient information, at a time when Hannibal continues to deny his connection to the case that took place when he was only three years old, although the Lebanese judicial authorities insist that Hannibal, due to his position in the former Libyan regime, have information about this case, and wait for Cast by.
Years of oblivion
Since his arrest, the subsequent Libyan authorities have not taken any real measures to consider his case, as he entered into oblivion in light of the ongoing political conflict in Tripoli, which Washington and its allies tried to impose successive powers on, plunging the country into a spiral of chaos that is still ongoing, especially since the successive authorities viewed Gaddafi’s son as part of his father’s system, and thus ignored dealing with him, despite successive requests from the Lebanese judicial authorities from their Libyan counterparts to cooperate, expand investigations and arrest some of the people wanted to end the case, but the latter ignored these requests, leaving the case pending.
Last year, Human Rights Watch issued a statement calling on the Lebanese authorities to release him, considering that the charges against him were “fabricated”, which the Libyan authorities in Tripoli picked up to demand his release as well, before the Lebanese authorities reaffirmed their request for help, arrested other people in Libya and expanded the investigation to end the case, so that this request was also ignored, and the case remains in the context of media statements only.
Ongoing controversy
Last year, media outlets circulated rumors that the outgoing Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh had contacted Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati to discuss Hannibal’s case, after which Mikati issued a statement denying the existence of any communication with official Libyan authorities on the matter, which confirmed that his file is in the hands of the competent judiciary, and any follow-up to this file is carried out through the competent judicial means.
Last January, a Libyan delegation including the Libyan Undersecretary for Judicial Police Affairs Ali Ishtawi, judges and security officers visited Lebanon and met with Lebanese Minister of Justice Henry al-Khoury, the head of the Sadr file follow-up committee, Judge Hassan al-Shami, in addition to other officials related to the case.
In April, the case came back in the spotlight after the Lebanese TV channel “Al-Jadeed” published photos of Hannibal Gaddafi following rumors that he had died in his detention facility. Images broadcast by the Lebanese channel showed his place of detention, which it reported was underground in Beirut, where he lives in a small room with a small bathroom and a bed, and published a message in which he said, “I live in a brush, and I challenge you to explain to me where the special treatment is, and what is your concept of VIP?!” “My situation is not good underground, and I want oxygen.”
Following the publication of these photos, voices again emerged calling for his problem to be resolved and his release, including the Ministry of Justice of the outgoing Government of National Unity, which issued a statement calling on the Lebanese authorities to provide guarantees and rights, health care, visits and correspondence, while stressing his right to be released unconditionally, as the charge against him was not proven or there was the slightest evidence linking him to the case for which he was arrested.
The statement said that the ministry was briefed on what was reported in the media about the conditions experienced by the Libyan citizen Hannibal Gaddafi in the State of Lebanon in terms of the place of his detention and deprivation of the rights guaranteed by international conventions and treaties, and said, “The Ministry of Justice hopes to receive official responses from the concerned authorities in the Lebanese Republic stating the improvement of the conditions of his detention, contrary to the current situation,” noting that it will follow up on developments in the matter, and will be in contact with political parties and international and regional human rights organizations, “to ensure that The Lebanese authorities are concerned with their responsibilities towards the Libyan detainee and his access to his rights and freedom,” according to the statement.
Who is responsible?
As Gaddafi continues his imprisonment in Beirut, many questions are raised about the parties responsible for his current situation, amid an exchange of accusations between the Lebanese authorities, who insist that he is detained in accordance with the law, and that Beirut is waiting for cooperation from Tripoli to end this file, and the authorities in the Libyan capital, which from time to time issue media statements without taking any real measures on the ground, whether extradition of wanted persons in accordance with legal frameworks, or assistance in completing investigations.
Gaddafi’s current situation reflects the crisis in Tripoli, which is scattered among many forces competing for power, amid continuous attempts by the United States and many European countries to expand and support certain parties to implement their interests, which led to the authorities’ sagging, diaspora, and preoccupation with many issues far from their real responsibilities in following up the interests of their citizens, which means that the Gaddafi Jr. crisis, which Beirut insists on addressing according to legal frameworks and not political, will remain hostage to the ability of the Libyan authorities to make real efforts to help A Libyan citizen, who until 2011 was one of the most prominent faces of this oil-rich African country.
Written by Alaa Halabi
Haftar and Norland stress the importance of preparing Libya for elections and supporting stability