Italian PM Giorgia Meloni investigated for repatriating Libyan warlord
Italian PM Giorgia Meloni investigated for repatriating Libyan warlord
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Osama Elmasry Njeem is suspected of crimes against humanity including murder, torture, rape and sexual violence as a prison overseer in Tripoli. Giorgia Meloni has revealed she is under judicial investigation over Italy’s surprise release of a prison officer wanted for war crimes in Libya.
![[Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni reacts during a Senate hearing]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/12/28/15/Italy_Politics_74898.jpg)
Osama Elmasry Njeem was freed last week and flown home by an Italian state plane just days after being arrested in the northern city of Turin by police acting on an International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant. The ICC say Najim was the chief of Libya’s judicial police and the presiding authority at Mitiga prison—a facility notorious for arbitrary and lengthy detentions, torture, abuse of migrants and political dissidents.
In a video message posted on her Facebook account, the Italian prime minister said she is suspected of aiding and abetting a crime and embezzlement in connection to the case. The ICC say Njeem is alleged to have been in charge of a prison holding thousands in Tripoli. He is suspected of crimes against humanity and war crimes, including murder, torture, rape and sexual violence, allegedly committed in Libya from February 2015.
The ICC demanded an explanation, saying it had not been consulted over the decision to release the wanted police officer. The suspect was located in Turin, Italy, in the early hours of Sunday, 19 January and was successfully arrested by the Italian authorities.
