Libyan court acquits Saadi Gaddafi of murder of athlete

TRIPOLI, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The Libyan northern Tripoli court on Tuesday acquitted Saadi Gaddafi, son of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, of murder of the late athlete Bashir al-Rayani, according to the Ministry of Justice.

"The court issued its verdict in case No. 877 of 2014, to acquit the first defendant, Saadi Muammar Gaddafi, for the premeditated murder, deception, threats, enslavement and defamation of Bashir al-Rayani," the Ministry said in a statement.

However, the court sentenced Saadi to one year of imprisonment and punished him five hundred dinars (400 U.S. dollars) for drinking and possession of alcohol. The court also suspended the sentence for 5 years from the date of the verdict without criminal charges.

Saadi Gaddafi first appeared before the Tripoli appeals court in May 2015 on charges of involvement in the killing of the late Libyan football player, Bashir al-Rayani, later in 2005.

In September 2011, Saadi fled to Niger shortly before the fall of his father's regime. Niger granted him asylum for "humanitarian reasons," but handed him over to Libya in 2014, accusing him of destabilizing southern Libya and moving sleeper cells to overthrow the regime, according to the Libyan authorities.

Interpol issued a red note against Saadi in 2011 after the Transitional Council, which was formed shortly after the 2011 uprising broke out against the Gaddafi regime, accused him of "taking over property by force and intimidation" when he was president of the Libyan Football Federation.

Saadi is the third son of late Muammar Gaddafi. He served as deputy commander of the security units in his father's regime. Enditem