Libya has placed senior police officer Osama Almasri Njeem in pretrial custody months after Italy briefly arrested him on an International Criminal Court warrant and then repatriated him, a move that sparked political controversy in Rome.
The ICC accuses Njeem of committing, ordering or aiding the murder and torture — including rape — of detainees at Tripoli’s Mitiga Prison from February 2015 onward. Libya’s attorney general said on Wednesday that investigators had received reports of “torture and cruel and degrading treatment” of inmates and that evidence gathered so far supports the charges. Authorities did not say when Njeem was detained or how he has pleaded.
“The investigator conducted an interrogation addressing the circumstances surrounding the human rights violations against ten inmates and the death of one inmate as a result of torture,” the prosecutor’s office said. Njeem heads the Operations and Judicial Security Department at the justice ministry of Libya’s internationally recognized government in Tripoli.
Italian police arrested Njeem in January at a Turin hotel, but Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government ordered his release two days later and flew him back to Libya on a state aircraft, saying procedural flaws undermined the arrest. The government denied opposition claims that Njeem had cooperated with Italy on curbing migration from Libya.
In August, the Rome Tribunal of Ministers asked parliament to lift immunity for three ministers over their handling of the case; Meloni’s coalition, which holds a wide majority, voted down the request last month. The ICC later criticized Italy’s conduct.
There was no immediate comment from the Italian government on Njeem’s detention in Libya.
Libya has struggled with lawlessness since a 2011 NATO-backed uprising toppled Muammar Gaddafi, leaving the country split between rival authorities in the east and west.