Gaddafi’s son freed after seven years
In Libya, Saadi Gaddafi, son of former dictator Muammar al-Gaddafi, has been released from prison. The Ministry of Justice announced this on Sunday.
Saadi Gaddafi has been behind bars in the capital Tripoli since his extradition from neighboring Niger in 2014. Gaddafi’s son was tried in April 2018 and found innocent of the 2005 murder of a former coach of Al-Ittihad Tripoli football club, Bachir Rayani.
More than three years after that ruling, Saadi is now at large. “Saadi Muammar Gaddafi has been released from prison on the orders of the judiciary,” a source at the Ministry of Justice said.
A source with the attorney general confirmed that Gaddafi was released on the recommendation of the attorney. “The Attorney General requested months ago the implementation of the decision on the release of Saadi Gaddafi once all conditions were met,” the source said.
According to local media, Saadi has since left the country and taken a flight to Istanbul.
Saadi Gaddafi also faces trial for his alleged involvement in the bloody crackdown on the 2011 uprising that marked the end of his father’s regime.
Muammar Gaddafi was killed that year in a NATO-backed popular uprising. After the fall of the dictator, a power vacuum arose. In recent years, a government in northwestern Tripoli has faced the northeastern bloc of warlord Khalifa Haftar.
