Muammar Gaddafi, the leader who ruled Libya for nearly 42 years, often proclaimed to the people that his way of life was extremely simple. He claimed to drink only mineral water and camel milk, preferring to spend the night in a tent in rudimentary conditions rather than live in a luxurious mansion.
With the fall of Gaddafi's government, cracks began to emerge in this depiction. In fact, Gaddafi's sons lived in extreme luxury, a life that most of the Libyan population could only dream of.
In one of the rooms of the villa, the army found a scarred and barely recognizable woman. She was the nanny of Gaddafi's fifth son, and she described the hellish torture she endured to those who liberated her...
The end of tyrannical rule
The civil war in 2011 marked the end of Gaddafi's rule, and news of the fall of Muammar Gaddafi's regime in Libya quickly spread around the world. Qaddafi was once known as the longest-reigning North African leader, but the curtain has finally come to an end.
Although the leader himself claims to live a simple life, the Gaddafi family enjoys luxury and tyranny, and its formidable family members and their lavish daily life stand in stark contrast to Gaddafi's own image of a "poor prince". After Gaddafi's overthrow, opposition forces quickly seized some of the Gaddafi family's possessions, including a luxury waterfront alternative in Tripoli.
The level of luxury in this villa is beyond the imagination of many, and it is clearly at odds with the simplicity of Gaddafi's representation to the outside world. The owners of this villa, Gaddafi's fifth son, Hannibal and his wife, Irene, lived here in a more luxurious life than the emperor - luxurious furniture, expensive ornaments, everything is a sign of their former prestige.
Beneath these extravagant exteriors, however, lies ruthless abuse and abuse. The fact that the Nanny Mullah revealed was a cruelty beyond imagination: the children and daughters-in-law of the Libyan leaders were subjected to extreme physical and mental violence. The mullah, the Ethiopian woman, has witnessed and experienced first-hand the tyrannical side of the Gaddafi family.
Victims of abandonment
With the fall of the Gaddafi regime, the outside world was able to get a glimpse of the secrecy and brutality within the Gaddafi family for the first time. The nanny mullah, who was found in the villa by opposition forces, is one of the evidences of the long-term abuse of the Hannibals. Behind the scenes of this beautiful villa is a history of inhumane treatment by the staff.
When the mullah was found, her body was scarred and in a tragic condition. She was showered with hot boiling water by Mrs. Irene, and her body was burned and scalded in many places, and her experience attracted widespread attention from the media at home and abroad. After the armed opposition seized the Gaddafi family's mansion, the mullah's fate became public.
When the mullah was found by the authorities, she was wrapped in a thin blanket that contrasted with her massive wounds. Her face and scalp were covered in scars and scabs from the hot water. The mullah's face and hair were nearly disfigured, and her wounds were still bleeding pus, suggesting that she had not been properly treated.
While washing the car, the mullah is subjected to cold domestic abuse and is retaliated by Erin's fury even when resisting. Once, because a child was crying too loudly, Erin ordered the mullah to hit the child, but the mullah refused. Erin dragged her to the bathroom, taped her mouth shut, and spilled hot water over her head. The mullah could not cry, but the torture of his body was palpable.
As the civil war deepened, Hannibal and his family fled Libya, while the mullahs and other would-be victims were left behind, and their former lives, statuses, and rights quickly collapsed. Trapped in an empty mansion, the mullah is homeless and can only survive on leftover canned food.
As one of the victims, the mullah suffered inhumane abuse and deprivation of basic human rights by the Hannibals. When the mullah was found, he received medical attention. She received antibiotics at the hospital in Tripoli, treating all the untreated infections and injuries.
The authorities arranged for her to travel to Malta, where she received more comprehensive medical and psychological treatment to help her recover and to provide the necessary treatment for the trauma she had suffered.
Crimes are made public
In 1999, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi took an important step in the international arena when his government agreed to pay compensation to the families of the victims of the 1988 Lockerbie air disaster, a major diplomatic turning point. This act of reparations is not only the result of Gaddafi's attempt to ease international sanctions, but also an attempt to break out of long-term international isolation.
In the 2000s, Gaddafi further demonstrated his willingness to reconcile with the international community. In 2003, he publicly announced that he would abandon his programme to develop weapons of mass destruction, a move that reflected Libya's new diplomatic approach to international politics.
The renunciation of these weapons programs allowed Libya to free itself from the sanctions imposed by the United Nations, and at the same time began the process of normalizing relations with Western countries, especially the United States and the European Union countries.
In 2006, the United States officially removed Libya from its list of state sponsors of terrorism, marking a fundamental improvement in relations between the two sides. This decision not only marked a major success of Gaddafi's foreign policy, but also symbolized his transformation from an international outcast to an acceptable international partner.
With the end of Gaddafi's rule and the revelation of Hannibal and Erin's actions in Libya, their wrongdoing on the international stage was also revealed. The couple, who have sparked conflict and scandal in many European countries, have underscored the unfettered and privileged lifestyle of members of the Gaddafi family.
In July 2008, Hannibal Gaddafi and his wife, Irene, were arrested by police at a luxury hotel in Geneva, Switzerland, on suspicion of physical abuse of two domestic employees. According to the employees, they were subjected to physical blows and inhumane treatment.
The incident not only caused a stir in Switzerland, but also attracted widespread international media attention, exposing the behavior of members of the Gaddafi family. The Libyan government reacted violently to the arrest as an insult to the Gaddafi family and a challenge to the dignity of the Libyan state.
In response, the Gaddafi government immediately took a number of retaliatory measures, including immediately cutting off oil exports to Switzerland, canceling flights to Switzerland, and shutting down Swiss businesses in Libya. In addition, Libya temporarily detained two Swiss businessmen and made unsubstantiated accusations against them, further inflating tensions between the two countries.
This diplomatic turmoil led to the so-called "Geneva incident", which attracted widespread international attention and affected Libya's relations with Switzerland and wider European countries in the years that followed. Diplomatic relations between Switzerland and Libya have been at an impasse for a long time, and it was only in 2009 that the two sides began to gradually resolve the crisis.
Eventually, through the mediation of the United Nations, Hannibal was released and returned to Libya, and the seized Swiss businessmen were able to return to Switzerland. In London, Hannibal's domestic violence against Erin also attracted attention.
A family dispute leads to Erin's injuries, and the handling of this incident reveals both their domineering attitude and their violent private lives. Even though he was powerful in Libya, Hannibal was detained by the police abroad for a number of incidents caused by violent tendencies.
These events spread in the global media, further cementing the Gaddafi family's bad image internationally.
Irene's actions abroad have been similarly controversial, with a series of disputes in Lebanon that have once again brought the Gaddafi family to the headlines. She is suspected of going on a rampage while driving, injuring innocent people, and her immature age and reckless behavior further demonstrate the presumptuous, arrogant lifestyle of the Hannibals.
The family fell apart and followed
After the outbreak of the Libyan civil war in 2011, the fortunes of the members of the Gaddafi family took a turn for the worse. The outbreak of the civil war marked the outbreak of long-suppressed social contradictions and political discontent in Libya, and the Gaddafi family became the main target of the rebels. During months of intense conflict, several members of the Gaddafi family tried to flee Libya and seek international asylum.
Gaddafi's second son, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, who was once considered the heir, played an important role in the civil war, trying to organize a counteroffensive to maintain power. However, as the rebels gained the upper hand, news of Saf's arrest came out in November 2011, marking the eventual collapse of the Gaddafi regime.
Accused of participating in the massacres of civilians and committing serious human rights violations, Saif has since been held in Libya for a long time and remains wanted by the International Criminal Court to this day. On the other hand, Muammar Gaddafi himself was captured by rebels in October 2011 and killed in the chaos, an incident that became the focus of the global media, symbolizing the bloody end of the dictatorship.
Another of Gaddafi's sons, Mutasim, who had served as a national security adviser and had been involved in numerous military operations against the rebels, was also arrested and killed in the same month. Other members of the Gaddafi family, such as Alisha Gaddafi and Hannibal Gaddafi, managed to flee to neighbouring Algeria and elsewhere, and some of them later moved to further afield countries, such as Oman, to seek political asylum.
These escapes not only illustrate the personal struggle for survival of family members, but also reflect the complex attitudes of the international community towards the families of former dictators. The situation of Hannibal and Irene is a microcosm of the struggles and failures that followed the dissolution of the Gaddafi family. They tried to find a safe haven, but they could not escape the shadow of the past.
Their past actions have become the focus of discussion and part of the world's perception of the Gaddafi family, both in Libya and internationally. This process is not only about the loss of control of power, but also about the long-term impact of individual actions on the family's reputation and the image of the country.
The story of the collapse of the Gaddafi family is an epic of power, morality, and family destinies, and the Hannibals' story reflects the rise and fall of the family. From the Gaddafi family's control of the Libyan state apparatus to the eventual international fugitives of the family, this reflects the limited power and complexity of human nature.
The trajectory of their lives is not only a reflection on the Gaddafi era, but also a profound examination of the use of power and personal responsibility.
Resources:
"The Fall of Gaddafi" by Kim Sengupta
"The Gaddafi Family Saga: A Tyranny's End" by Mary Fitzgerald
“The Libyan Revolution and its Aftermath” edited by Peter Cole and Brian McQuinn
"History of Modern Libya" by Dirk Vandewalle