Italy Arrests Libya Senior Police Under ICC Order

ICC/Wikimedia Commons

JAKARTA - Italian authorities have arrested a senior member of Libya's judicial police, based on an International Criminal Court (ICC) order on charges of war crimes.

The man was arrested in the northern city of Turin, the source told Reuters on Monday, January 21.

The case has been forwarded to the justice ministry and an appeals court in Rome.

The source did not name the man, but Italian media identified him as Njeem Osama Elamsry. While in Libya he is registered in government records as Osama Njeem.

The suspect was arrested at the hotel after receiving information from Interpol's international police agency and was in Turin along with other Libyans, La Repubblica newspaper reported.

Italian daily Avvenire, who first reported the arrest, said the man runs a migrant detention center in the capital Tripoli as part of his role in judicial police, and is affiliated with the powerful military Special Prevention Forces.

Italy's migrant rescue charity, Mediterranea, praised the arrests and renewed criticism of the deal in which Italy and the European Union helped Libyan authorities stop sea-to-European migrant crossings.

The agreement has been ruled by the United Nations, human rights experts and international charities such as Doctors Without Borders for supporting and conspiring in the widespread abuse and exploitation of migrants in Libya.