Italian authorities have arrested two men who are accused of holding migrants captive in a detention camp in Libya. Four Bangladeshi migrants recognized the two suspects and said they worked at a camp in central Libya where they were imprisoned and tortured, investigators said.
Police in Agrigento, southern Italy, announced on July 10
that they had arrested two Bangladeshi nationals, aged 35 and 31. They are accused of belonging to a criminal association, aiding and abetting illegal immigration, human trafficking, kidnapping and torture.
Prosecutors requested pre-trial custody for the two men. The request was granted by the preliminary investigations judge. Anti-mafia investigators in Palermo will continue the investigation, which will also be carried out abroad.
The two men were arrested after they were accused by four Bangladeshi migrants of holding them captive and torturing them at a Libyan detention center.
The alleged victims said they paid US$ 5,000 to be released from the camp and for the trip to Italy.
The four migrants landed on the Italian island of Lampedusa on May 28, along with their alleged abusers, investigators said. They were first quarantined at a hotspot in Lampedusa and then transferred to the Sicilian city of Ragusa, where police questioned them.