Libyan library war crimes released due to errors in the order of the CPI, Italy says

Italian justice minister, Carlo Nordio, said Rome had no choice but to release a crimes of libyan war suspected of “errors and inaccuracies” in an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Osama Almasri Najim, head of the Judicial Police of Libya, was arrested in Turin on January 19.

Two days later, He was released and flown back to Tripoli on an Italian Air Force plane..

Najim faces several positions, including murders, violations and torture, linked to his role in the Tripoli Mitiga detention Center, and his release caused the condemnation of opposition parties and NGOs.

Going to the Italian Parliament on Wednesday, Carlo Nordio said that the order that led to the arrest of Najim was plagued with “inaccuracies, omissions, discrepancies and contradictory conclusions”, which meant that the Libyan citizen could not be held in jail.

Interior Minister Matteo Piantredosi said that Najim was expelled since it was a “national security risk.”

The images shared by the Libyan media that show a jubilant crowd welcoming Mr. Najim that circulated widely in the Italian media. The ICC has demanded an explanation of the Italian authorities.

Elly Schlein, leader of the Opposition Democratic Party (PD), accused Nordio of speaking not as a government minister but as a “a torturer defense lawyer.”

Last week, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni He revealed that she, Nordio and Piantredosi were under investigation in relation to Najim’s statement.

A special court that manages cases that involve ministers have begun investigation.

David Yambio, a 27 -year -old South Sudan who says he was abused in Mitiga de Tripoli prison, told the BBC that Italy was “accomplicing the atrocities that took place in Libya.”

He says he found himself for the first time with Mr. Najim after he was caught in the sea while trying to cross the Mediterranean in a boat and was returned to Libya.

After he was forced to join a militia, which according to him was “a pure nightmare”, Mr. Yambio ended up in Mitiga, where he says he suffered months of torture. He also said he saw Najim abuse other migrants.

“The injustice we suffered, and how Italy became complicit in our eyes, is clear. They took away justice.”

“Our torturer was in Italy, he was arrested and then he was back to Libya,” Yambio added.

As signature of the ICC, Italy is legally obliged to execute the arrest orders of the Court.

But critics suggest that Italy’s decision to free Mr. Najim may have been influenced by his political and commercial ties with Libya.

In 2017, the Center-Left government of Paolo Gentiloni forged an agreement with Tripoli that saw Italy pay the Libya Coast Guard to intercept migrant ships before reaching the Italian coast.

The NGOs have constantly criticized this policy, which according to them exposes migrants to terrible conditions in Libyan detention centers.

The case has now dominated the Italian headlines for weeks.

However, it is unlikely that research on Meloni, Nordio and Piantedosi will produce significant consequences, given the solid parliamentary majority of the government.

Last week, Meloni suggested that the investigation was part of a politically motivated attack on the left and said he would not be “blackmail or intimidated.”

But some commentators believe that Libya’s ability to take advantage of his relationship with Rome highlights the vulnerability of Italy in migration, one of Meloni’s flagship problems.

“While Meloni insists that he is not susceptible to the blackmail of the Judiciary, he is very vulnerable to Libya, given his fixation in migration,” said Nathalie Tocci, director of the Institute of International Affairs of Rome.

He added that the problem had been “armed and exploited” by Libya.

“The implicit message is: either Mr. Najim releases or let the migrant ships pass.”

Libya plays a key role in the success of the Mattei Plan of Meloni, an ambitious set of policies that aims to boost European cooperation with Africa in exchange for curbing irregular migration.

“The question of Libya is and remains a matter of … National Security, which means the security of all citizens,” said former Interior Minister Marco Minniti, the Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera.

“A large part of national security is played beyond national borders.”

For Mr. Yambio and other survivors of the atrocities of which Mr. Najim is accused, the liberation of man who says he tortured them is “a deep betrayal.”

In a letter to Giorgia Meloni, they requested the end of the Italy-Libya Migration Agreement, as well as the release of those still detained in the Libyan camps.

“We are witnesses of so many crimes for which Mr. Najim is responsible,” said Yambio.