Gadhafi’s son protests imprisonment with hunger strike
A son of Libya’s late leader, Moammar Gadhafi, has initiated a hunger strike to protest his 7 year-long imprisonment without trial, according to AP.
Before his arrest, Hannibal Gadhafi was living as a political refugee in Syria where he was abducted by Lebanese militants who demanded information about the fate of a Shiite cleric who went missing in Libya 45 years ago. Gadhafi was then later taken by Lebanese authorities and, since then, has been held in a jail in Beirut ever since.
Hannibal Gadhafi’s attorney Paul Romanos told The Associated Press that his client started the hunger strike the morning of June 3rd and that “he is serious and will continue with it until the end.”
Gadhafi issued a statement describing his conditions, stating “How can a political prisoner be held without a fair trial all these years?” Gadhafi went on to say that he is on hunger strike, and “those who are treating me unjustly” will be responsible for the results. He also added that “the time has come to liberate the law from the hands of politicians.”
READ: Libya: Violence erupts in Tripoli as armed factions clash
The disappearance of Lebanese Shiite cleric Moussa al-Sadr in 1978 remains a contentious issue in Lebanon. While his family believes he may still be alive and held in a Libyan prison, most Lebanese assume he is deceased, as he would be 94 years old today.
Al-Sadr, who hailed from Qom, Iran, arrived in Lebanon in 1959 to advocate for Shiite rights in Tyre. in 1975, Al-Sadr established the military faction named ‘Amal’, which later fought in the Lebanese civil war.
Libya contends that al-Sadr and his companions departed Tripoli in 1978, but his followers suspect that he was killed by Moammar Gadhafi over disputes regarding Libyan payments to Lebanese militias.
Though Moammar Gadhafi was overthrown and killed in 2011, al-Sadr’s fate still remains unknown.
Hannibal Gadhafi was born two years before al-Sadr’s disappearance.
AP
