The Lebanese investigative judge overseeing the case of the 1978 disappearance of Imam Mussa al-Sadr has approved the release of Hannibal Gaddafi, son of the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, on bail set at $11 million, while imposing a travel ban against him.

Judge Zaher Hamadeh divided the bail into two portions: $1 million to guarantee Gaddafi’s court appearances and cover procedural fees, and $10 million to secure part of the civil claims filed by the family of the missing cleric.

Gaddafi’s defense team immediately rejected the decision, calling the amount “unreasonable” and vowing to appeal.

“Our client does not have this amount. He has been arbitrarily detained for ten years, and this figure is illogical,” attorney Inas Harrak told reporters. “We will challenge it before the appropriate judicial authorities.”

The lawyers added that Gaddafi’s assets have been frozen under international sanctions since 2012.

“Most of his siblings have had their sanctions lifted and their funds released, but Hannibal could not do the same because he has been kidnapped and held unlawfully in Lebanon,” the defense team said in a statement.

The team further argued that the court’s move effectively amounted to rejecting his release request.

“After ten years of detention, no evidence has been produced linking Gaddafi to the disappearance of Imam al-Sadr and his two companions,” they said, insisting that “he is neither a suspect nor a witness in the case.”

Earlier on Thursday, Gaddafi appeared before Judge Hamadeh at the Beirut Justice Palace for a questioning session requested by al-Sadr's family. The hearing lasted about two hours, attended by three defense lawyers, including a French attorney, as well as representatives of the al-Sadr family’s legal team.

After the session concluded, Gaddafi was returned to his detention site at the General Directorate of the Internal Security Forces.

Before entering the courtroom, Harrak described the hearing as “a test for the conscience of the Lebanese state rather than for its judiciary.” The defense also accused the al-Sadr family of issuing “media statements aimed at creating confusion” around the case.

Imam Mussa al-Sadr, the founder of Lebanon’s Amal Movement and one of the country’s most influential Shiite leaders, disappeared during an official visit to Libya in August 1978 along with his companions Sheikh Mohammad Yaacoub and journalist Abbas Badreddine.

Hannibal Gaddafi was detained in Lebanon in December 2015 after being kidnapped by an armed group in the Bekaa Valley, reportedly in an attempt to extract information about al-Sadr’s fate. He was later handed over to Lebanese authorities, who charged him with withholding information related to the disappearance.

Gaddafi has since been held in custody, despite repeated calls by his defense team for his release on the grounds that he was a child at the time of al-Sadr’s disappearance and had no role in it. His lawyers argue that Lebanon is holding him unlawfully and that the investigation has become politicized.