Italy’s interior minister, Matteo Piantedosi, has stated the reason behind his country’s decision to release and send home Libya’s war crime suspect, Osama Najim.
The Libyan man was detained under an international war crimes arrest warrant but was unexpectedly freed by the European country.
He was swiftly repatriated to Libya and the minister said this was because of his “social dangerousness“.
Osama, also known as Almasri, was initially arrested on Sunday in Turin, Italy under an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court, ICC.
Osama, who is chief of Libya’s judicial police, is being accused and wanted for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity, as well as alleged rape and murder by the ICC.
Osama is in charge of the Mitiga prison, a facility near Tripoli, the country’s capital, condemned by human rights organisations for the arbitrary detention, torture and abuse of political dissidents, migrants and refugees.
He was freed on Tuesday due to a procedural technicality and flown on an official state aircraft to Tripoli.
Following his unexpected release, the ICC demanded an explanation from Italy prime minister, Giorgia Meloni.
“Following the non-validation of the arrest … considering that the Libyan citizen … presented a profile of social dangerousness … I adopted an expulsion order for reasons of state security,” interior minister Matteo Piantedosi said.
Italian foreign minister Antonio Tajani made light of the ICC’s objections, telling reporters the international court “is not the word of God, it’s not the font of all truth”.
“Italy is a sovereign country and we make our own decisions,” he added.
Najim is a brigadier general in Libya’s judicial police who the ICC says is suspected of crimes against humanity and war crimes at Mitiga prison.
Meloni’s government depends heavily on Libyan security forces to prevent would-be migrants from leaving the north African nation and heading to southern Italy.
