One of the sons of Muammar Gadhafi, the Libyan dictator who was toppled and killed in 2011, walked free after 7 years in detention in the capital of Tripoli, authorities announced on Sunday. He was detained following his extradition from neighboring Niger.

Mohamed Hamouda, a spokesperson for Libya‘s transitional government, said al-Saadi Gadhafi walked free from Tripoli’s al-Hadaba prison, where many Gadhafi regime officials are being held pending trial, mostly in connection to the crackdown on the 2011 uprising that toppled the longtime ruler and led to his killing, the Associated Press reported.

Hamuda did not give details about the son’s release but said authorities have just implemented a two-year-old court order to free him.

According to local media reports, al-Saadi Gadhafi was released after he was acquitted on charges dating back to the uprising against his father’s rule. He travelled to Turkey after his release, the al-Marsad news website reported.

Al-Saadi Gadhafi’s special forces brigade was involved in the crackdown on protesters and rebels at the time of the 2011 revolt. 

He escaped across the desert to Niger in 2011 just as his father’s regime was crumbling.  The Niger government extradited him back to Libya in March 2014 after he, as well as colleagues who accompanied him, “failed to respect the conditions of his stay in Niger,” the West African nation’s government said at the time.

Muammar Gadhafi had eight children, most of whom played significant roles in his regime. His son Muatassim was killed at the same time Gadhafi was captured and slain. Two other sons, Seif al-Arab and Khamis, were killed earlier in the uprising.

Seif al-Islam, the one-time heir apparent to his father, has been in Libya since his release from detention in 2017. Another son, Hannibal, is reportedly detained in Lebanon.

The rest of the children are still at large having sought asylum in neighboring Algeria along with Gaddafi’s wife and al-Saadi’s mother, Safiya. The mother, a sister, and two brothers were granted asylum in Oman in 2012 and moved there from Algeria.

During his father’s rule, al-Saadi Gadhafi was known for his lavish lifestyle and he treated Libya’s soccer league as his personal fiefdom. He played for several Libyan teams — and for an Italian team until he failed a drug test. At various times, he headed Libya’s soccer federation and its national team.

(With AP inputs)