Italy arrest and release senior member of Libyan judicial police
Italy has arrested and subsequently released a senior member of the Libyan judicial police in a move criticized by all opposition groups.
The man, named by Reuters on January 21st as Najeem Osema Almasri Habish, or Osama Njeem, was arrested on a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
His arrest was welcomed by a broad group of migrant rescue and human rights charities.
However, an interior ministry source said on January 21st it has released Osama Njeem on a “legal technicality”; the police who arrested him failed to immediately inform the justice ministry as required.
Osama Njeem was apprehended in the northern city of Turin on Sunday after a tip from Interpol indicated he was visiting Italy to watch a football match. Yet the formal procedures necessary for his arrest were not followed, meaning he was released.
Reuters has also reported that Osama Njeem then boarded an Italian flight back to Tripoli.
The man accused is the director of the Institute for Reform and Rehabilitation of the Judicial Police in Tripoli.
He managed a notorious network of detention centers in Libya which were run by the government-backed Special Defence Forces (SDF) who act as a military police unit.
As mentioned, opposition political and human rights groups have criticized his release and are clamoring for clarification from the Italian Prime Minister and the Minister of Justice on why he was released.
Italian migrant rescue charity Mediterranea had “hailed the arrest” but have now “renewed criticism of deals under which Italy and the Eu help Libyan authorities stop migrant sea crossings to Europe”, according to Reuters.
The deals have been attacked by the United Nations and other human rights charities for “supporting and abetting widespread abuse and exploitation that migrants suffer in Libya”, stated by Reuters.
This story comes at a time where the legitimacy of the ICC is already in question following the arrest warrants issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Secretary, Yoav Gallant. Warrants which many states, including Hungary and the United States, have refused to acknowledge.
Reuters
