BEIRUT, October 17. /TASS/. A Lebanese court has ruled to release Hannibal Gaddafi, son of late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi (1942-2011), from custody on $11 million bail, the defendant's lawyer told reporters, citing the decision made by an investigating judge after the interrogation at the Palace of Justice.

Gaddafi's 50-year-old son has been under arrest in Lebanon since 2015. He was abducted by Amal militants in neighboring Syria, where he had been living in exile, and subsequently handed over to Lebanese authorities. In 2017, he was formally charged with concealing information about Shia imam Musa al-Sadr, who vanished in Libya in 1978.

Gaddafi's lawyers said they plan to contest the bail amount, noting that their client has already spent 10 years in custody. "We will file a motion to cancel the bail," one of the lawyers stated. "Gaddafi was kidnapped. He has no identity documents, and in 10 years, no evidence of his guilt in the Imam al-Sadr case has been found," he underlined.

According to the Al Nahar newspaper, at the end of August 1978, the prominent Shia preacher Musa al-Sadr was invited to Libya to mark the anniversary of the September 1, 1969, revolution. From Tripoli, he was scheduled to fly to Rome for an audience with the Pope. However, following a meeting with Colonel Gaddafi, the imam and his two companions disappeared.

One account suggests that a heated debate on Islamic matters erupted between the colonel and the imam, and Gaddafi allegedly shot him. Another version claims that Musa al-Sadr and his companions, the theologian Muhammad Yaqub and the publicist Abbas Badreddin, were imprisoned.

During Gaddafi's rule, Hannibal, who was married to Lebanese model Aline Skaf, oversaw the country's oil exports. After his father's assassination in 2011, he managed to escape conflict-ridden Libya with his family and seek refuge in neighboring Algeria.