Lebanon slashes bail on detained Hannibal Gadhafi
BEIRUT
A Lebanese judge has drastically reduced the $11 million bail imposed for the release of Hannibal Kadhafi, son of deposed Libyan ruler Moammar Kadhafi, a judicial official has said.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP "the judge had decided to reduce the bail from $11 million to $900,000 and to lift the travel ban.”
His lawyer said this would secure his quick release.
Lebanese authorities arrested the younger Gadhafi in 2015 and accused him of withholding information about the 1978 disappearance of Lebanese Shiite cleric Mussa Sadr in Libya.
Gadhafi, who is now 49 according to his lawyer, was around two years old at the time of Sadr's disappearance.
The judge had ordered his release on $11 million bail on Oct. 17, after nearly a decade of pre-trial detention, a sum then challenged by his lawyers.
Gadhafi French lawyer Laurent Bayon told AFP "the bail will be paid really quickly and Hannibal will leave Lebanon very soon,” without divulging his destination.
He added that Gadhafi was a Libyan passport holder.
Bayon had previously said the original bail had been divided into two parts: $10 million for the victims and $1 million as an appearance guarantee.
"The fact that the judge decided he does not have to pay compensation to the victims implies that he is innocent in the Sadr case," Bayon said on Nov. 6.
Beirut blamed the disappearances on then Libyan ruler Moammar Kadhafi, who was overthrown and killed decades later in a 2011 uprising.
Ties between the two countries have been strained ever since the trio went missing.
