Libyan authorities confirm Gaddafi's son remains in prison

TRIPOLI, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- Saadi Gaddafi, son of the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, is still in prison in the Libyan capital Tripoli, according to the director of investigation department at the Libyan Attorney General.

Siddiq Sour told Xinhua on Thursday that Saadi Gaddafi has been in prison in Tripoli for three years. "He is inside prison in Tripoli and he is fine."

"The defendant Saadi Gaddafi is currently being tried for charges against him according to Libyan law," Sour added.

The Libyan official made his remarks in response to a statement issued on Tuesday by the Gaddafi family, in which they claimed that contact with Saadi was lost a while ago.

"All the family has learned is that he is in a prison run by militias," The Gaddafi family said in a statement, adding that they had lost contact with Saadi for quite a while and neither they nor his lawyer had been able to contact him.

"Despite testimonies of witnesses and consensus on his acquittal of charges against him, his trial has been repeatedly postponed and he was isolated from his lawyer," the statement said.

Saadi is the third son of late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. Saadi was the former deputy commander of security units in the former regime. Libyan authorities accuse him of involvement in suppressing the 2011 uprising that overthrew his father's rule.

After losing the fighting between Gaddafi's army and Libyan rebels in 2011, Saadi fled to Niger, which handed him over in 2014 to the Libyan authorities. He has since been held captive and his trial was postponed several times. Enditem