Libya frees Saadi Gaddafi, son of ex-dictator Muammar Gaddafi
- Saadi had been held in a Tripoli prison, accused of crimes committed against protesters in 2011
- The former footballer was known for his playboy lifestyle during his father’s dictatorship
Libyan authorities on Sunday released one of Muammar Gaddafi’s sons after more than seven years of detention in the capital of Tripoli following his extradition from neighbouring Niger.
Mohamed Hamouda, a spokesman for the transitional government, said Saadi Gaddafi walked free from Tripoli’s al-Hadaba prison, where many Gaddafi regime officials are being held pending trial, mostly in connection to the crackdown on the 2011 uprising that toppled the long-time ruler and led to his killing.
Hamuda did not elaborate the circumstances of the son’s release but said authorities have just implemented a two-year-old court order to free him.
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Local media reported Saadi Gaddafi was released after he was acquitted on charges dating back to the uprising against his father’s rule. Following his release, he travelled to Turkey, according to the al-Marsad news website.
At the time of the 2011 revolt Saadi Gaddafi headed a special forces brigade that was involved in the crackdown on protesters and rebels.
He was smuggled across the desert to Niger in 2011 just as his father’s regime was crumbling. He was extradited in March 2014 after he, as well as colleagues who accompanied him, “failed to respect the conditions of his stay in Niger,” the West African nation’s government said at the time.
The dictator had eight children, most of whom played significant roles in his regime. His son Muatassim was killed at the same time Gaddafi was captured and slain. Two other sons, Seif al-Arab and Khamis, were killed earlier in the uprising.
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Seif al-Islam, the one-time heir apparent to his father, has been in Libya since his release from detention in 2017. Another son, Hannibal, is reportedly detained in Lebanon.
The rest of the children are still at large having sought asylum in neighbouring Algeria along with Gaddafi’s wife and Saadi’s mother, Safiya. The mother, a sister and two brothers were granted asylum in Oman in 2012 and moved there from Algeria.
During his father’s rule, Saadi Gaddafi was known for his lavish lifestyle and he treated Libya’s soccer league as his personal fiefdom. He played for several Libyan teams – and for an Italian team until he failed a drug test. At various times, he headed Libya’s soccer federation and its national team.
In one case, security forces opened fire on fans at a 1996 match attended by Saadi, killing a number of people in murky circumstances. He is also suspected in the 2005 killing of Bashir al-Riyani, a popular Libyan soccer player who was a vocal critic of Gaddafi’s regime.
Following his extradition, prosecutors in Libya said he faced charges in connection to abductions and rapes during the 2011 uprising, misuse of his post and the killing of al-Riyani.
The elder Gaddafi ruled Libya with an eccentric brutality for nearly 42 years before he was ousted by an uprising in August 2011. He was captured and killed two months later.
The oil-rich country plunged into chaos after the uprising and has been ruled for most of the past decade by rival governments based in Libya’s west and the east, each backed by armed groups and foreign governments.
