Osama Almasri Njeem, the former head of the Libyan judicial police wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC), has been arrested in Libya for torture and killing. His victims say they will sue the Italian government for damages. Italy helped Almasri return to Libya after his arrest in Turin on January 19.
Months after being met with cheering from his followers on his return, the former head of the Tripoli judicial police, Osama Almasri Njeem, has been arrested.
Wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity, he had been arrested and then released by the Italian authorities in January.
In the late morning of November 5, Libyan media announced that Almasri had been arrested in his home country as well.
"He tortured and killed," the Tripoli prosecutor's office has said after interrogating Almasri and gathering evidence.
He has been placed in detention while awaiting a court ruling.
Case in Italy and Rome-ICC dispute
The news drew attention on the opposite side of the Mediterranean as soon as it was announced.
Almasri's name is linked to one of the most sensitive cases that the government under Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has had to deal with in recent months.
Between January 19 and 21, Almasri was arrested and released by the Italian authorities despite a warrant issued for his arrest by the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
An Italian air force flight took the "torturer of Tripoli" -- a name used for him by many in his native North African nation as well as by some NGOs -- was deported to Libya and met at the airport in the national capital by cheering fans.
Since then, Almasri and his case have been at the center of a fierce clash between the Italian government and opposition factions, as well as a dispute between Rome and the ICC.
The pre-trial chamber of the ICC on October 17 published a document regarding the management of the case by Italian authorities, with the majority of the panel deciding to defer "its determination as to whether the matter of Italy's non-compliance with the request for arrest and surrender of Almasri should be referred to the Assembly of States Parties or to the United Nations Security Council."
In the document, the judges asked the government led by Premier Giorgia Meloni to provide by October 31 information on any domestic proceedings relevant to the case, and an indication of the impact that these proceedings could have on Italy's future cooperation with the Court in the execution of collaboration requests for the arrest and surrender of suspects.
In recent days, the Italian government has said it will review its procedures regarding cooperation with the ICC.
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Almasri accused of torturing migrants and killing one
The former head of Libyan judicial police has now been arrested on charges of torturing migrants and killing at least one.
Tripoli prosecutor Sadiq al Sour, according to local media and in part thanks to collaboration with the ICC, has deemed that it has the necessary evidence to keep him in detention.
The ICC, contacted by ANSA, has said that it does not want to comment on the arrest for the time being.
The accusations are in any case very similar to those for which the ICC had issued the international arrest warrant for Almasri: war crimes and crimes against humanity.
These are the same crimes that several former detainees in Libyan detention facilities accused him of when speaking both in the Italian parliament as well as its EU counterpart in Strasbourg. The fact that he had been released sparked the anger of NGOs and leftist associations as well as some embarrassment among the Italian and EU centre-right.
Almasri had been part of RADA, special deterrent forces formed to counter late dictator Muammar Gaddafi's men and who for years managed the security of Tripolitania's ports, airports, and key infrastructure.
In 2012, RADA began the construction of a detention center at the Mitiga base, which became the largest prison in western Libya and which was where the crimes the ICC has accused him of allegedly occurred.
Government sources 'knew of arrest warrant since January'
Almasri's arrest brought the case back to the spotlight in Italy with -- on the evening of November 5 -- the government providing its previously unreported version of events.
"The Italian government has been aware of the existence of an arrest warrant issued by the Tripoli general prosecutor's office since Jan. 20, 2025," government sources said, noting that on that date the Italian foreign ministry had received -- almost at the same time as the issuance of the ICC international arrest warrant - an extradition request from the Libyan judicial authorities.
The sources claimed that "this was one of the main reasons provided by the Italian government to the ICC as justification for not handing Almasri over and immediately deporting him to Libya."
For having released the former commander and sent him back to Libya, Undersecretary Alfredo Mantovano, as well as the ministers Carlo Nordio and Matteo Piantedosi, were placed under investigation.
On October 29, the Ministers' Court shelved the investigation after on October 9 the Chamber of Deputies denied a request for authorization to proceed against the three government officials.
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Victims vow to sue Italian government for damages
The lawyers of the general's victims, who in recent months had filed a case at the Rome prosecutor's office due to their alleged torturer's release in January in Turin, commented on the latest news with "a mixed sense of satisfaction" but also "disappointment" due to what happened last winter.
Some have vowed to sue the Italian government and the individual ministers involved for damages.
"I am very happy," said the lawyer Angela Bitonti, who is representing an Ivorian woman who has been living for years in Italy but who in the past was a witness to the violence perpetrated by Almasri.
"For the Italian state," she commented, "this is in any case an embarrassment. We will soon file a request for compensation."
The lawyers want to understand in this phase what future developments will be in Libya after the transfer of the former commander to a Tripoli jail.
"It is not clear," noted Bitonti, "whether he will go on trial there or be handed over to the ICC. In any case, I now have more hope that my client will be able to get justice. However, as an [Italian] citizen, I am truly disappointed and mortified that Italy" released Almasri after detaining him.
Francesco Romeo, the lawyer of Lam Magok Biel Ruei, who was also a victim of the violence of the RADA militia commander, said that "we know that everything can change quickly in Libya, sometimes even in a single day."
He added that "disappointment remains as concerns the conduct of Meloni, Nordio, Piantedosi and Mantovano, who took" the commander back to Libya instead of handing him over to the ICC, "where he would have had to answer for the crimes committed. There is no certainty that this will happen in Tripoli."
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