Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday that Lebanese authorities should immediately release Hannibal Gaddafi, Muammar Gaddafi's son, who has been held in pretrial detention on spurious charges since his arrest in December 2015.
"Hannibal Gaddafi’s apparent arbitrary detention on spurious charges after spending eight years in pretrial detention makes a mockery of Lebanon’s already strained judicial system,” said Hanan Salah, associate Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch.
Salah added that "Lebanese authorities have long since exhausted any justification for continuing to detain him and should drop charges and release him.”
According to Human Rights Watch, about 80% of Lebanon’s prison population is in pretrial detention, some held for many years and without charge.
