Refugee’s justice hopes ‘crushed’ after Italy releases Libya war crimes suspect
Refugee’s justice hopes ‘crushed’ after Italy releases Libya war crimes suspect
Share:
David Yambio says Rome ‘has blood on its hands’ after freeing police chief he alleges beat him in Tripoli prison. A man who says he experienced abuses at a notorious prison in Tripoli at the hands of the head of Libya’s judicial police, Osama Najim, has said Italy has “crushed” his hopes for justice by releasing the war crimes suspect despite an international criminal court arrest warrant.
![[David Yambio holding up a sign reading ‘stop international terrorism on refugees in Libya: EU kills’]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/6f6691ff53523b7ead713c6d17850c9da2b264ee/0_62_3000_1800/master/3000.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
David Yambio was held at Mitiga prison in Tripoli after several attempts to cross the Mediterranean in search of refuge in Europe were thwarted by Libya’s coastguard as part of a controversial pact with Italy. Najim is believed to have been in charge of prison facilities in Tripoli, including Mitiga, since February 2015. The former warlord, also known as Almasri, was arrested in Turin last week on the warrant issued by the ICC before being unexpectedly released on a technicality and swiftly repatriated to a hero’s welcome.
“The fragile hope for justice that we were all holding on to has been crushed,” Yambio said in an interview with the Guardian. The 27-year-old, who now lives in Italy and is the co-founder of the NGO Refugees in Libya, is among the many refugees and migrants who provided testimony to the ICC about Najim. The court wants him for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity, as well as alleged rape and murder committed at Mitiga.
Yambio said: “Almasri was in Italy, in my backyard … heaven knows if he was looking for me and all those who witnessed his [alleged] crimes. We already live in perpetual fear, but how can we be safe in a country that pretended to keep us safe and instead protects an [alleged] torturer? I’m struggling to reconcile what has happened. All we have left is our voice and even that is being attacked by people who want to deny our pain.”.
