Lebanese Justice: You Get Freedom for Cash, Not Justice
Hannibal Gadhafi, son of the late Libyan leader, is ordered released after a decade held without charge in Lebanon, provided he coughs up an $11 million bail (AP News, 2025). This isn't rule of law; it’s a high-stakes ransom note masquerading as legal proceeding. The irony of Lebanon only formally being pushed to act after Libya requested his release in 2023 and Gadhafi’s health deteriorated from
a hunger strike to protest his unlawful detention is almost comedic, if it wasn't so tragic. One might wonder: how many ordinary citizens languish in jails without due process, their freedom not tied to their innocence, but to the size of their checkbook? Apparently, justice in some parts of the world isn't blind, but rather, acutely aware of one’s liquid assets. His lawyers are now suing the
Lebanese state in Geneva for his detention, which certainly seems like an effective negotiation tactic.