French upset by Gaddafi's son
2005-05-26 14:22
Paris - A French court convicted the youngest son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi for striking his pregnant companion in a Paris hotel, handing him a fourth-month suspended prison sentence and a S$628 fine, a judicial official said on Thursday.
Hannibal Gaddafi was not in court for Monday's trial in Paris, said the official who spoke on customary condition of anonymity. He was prosecuted on charges of "voluntary violence on a vulnerable person" and unauthorised possession of a pistol.
On February 1, Gaddafi wielded - but did not shoot - an automatic pistol while at the Grand Hotel Intercontinental near the Opera Garnier. Security agents directed him to his hotel room, which he then damaged, officials said. His companion was hospitalised temporarily at the American Hospital west of Paris.
Without specifically referring to the incident, the Foreign Ministry said in February that France had expressed its "displeasure" to authorities in Libya about "repeated incidents" involving Hannibal Gaddafi.
He also was at the centre of a separate commotion last September, when police stopped him for speeding and his bodyguards attacked several officers.
- AP