Italy Repatriates Lybia War Criminal General Arrested On ICC Order

Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi/PHOTO via X @Piantedosim

JAKARTA - Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said a Libyan man was detained under an arrest warrant for an international war crime and was later unexpectedly released to be repatriated.

Osama Elmasry Njeem, also known as Osama Almasri Njeem, was detained on Sunday in Turin under an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) based in The Hague.

Osama is suspected of committing crimes including the murder, torture and rape of Libyan prisoners.

He was released on Tuesday for reasons that sources from the Italian Interior Ministry said were related to legal technical issues and flown by state official aircraft to Tripoli.

The ICC asked for an explanation, saying it had not consulted with the far-right government led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

"After the arrest was not validated, considering the Libyans showed social hazard profiles. I issued an eviction order for state security reasons," Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi told Reuters on Thursday, January 23.

Njeem is a general Brigadier at the Libyan Judicial Police who according to the ICC is suspected of committing crimes against humanity and war crimes in the Mitiga prison.

Meloni's government relies heavily on Libyan security forces to prevent prospective migrants from leaving the North African country and heading to southern Italy.

Piantedosi told lawmakers during a question and answer session at the Senate high court that Roma's appeals court ordered Njeem's release because they thought his arrest was not in accordance with procedures.

A Ministry of Home Affairs source told Reuters earlier that Osama was released because local police did not immediately notify the Ministry of Justice of the arrest, as required.

Meanwhile, opposition parties said Piantedosi's explanation was inadequate and asked Prime Minister Meloni to come to parliament to clarify.

"You embarrass our country, you talk about technical matters, but you have made the right political choices," said senator Giuseppe De Cristofaro, of the left-right Alliance party.