THE HAGUE, Netherlands — On Monday, judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) formally requested that Italy provide an explanation for its decision to release a Libyan individual accused of serious crimes, including torture, murder, and rape, instead of facilitating his extradition to The Hague.
Ossama Anjiem, known as Ossama al-Masri, was apprehended by Italian authorities last month. However, rather than extraditing him to the ICC’s location in the Netherlands, he was returned to Libya on an Italian military aircraft.
Fadi El Abdallah, the ICC spokesperson, announced that the situation concerning Italy’s noncompliance with the court’s request for al-Masri’s arrest and transfer is currently under review by the appropriate chamber.
In an address to the parliament last week, Italian Justice Minister Carlo Nordio defended the government’s choice to send al-Masri back to Libya, arguing that the arrest warrant issued by the ICC was contradictory and contained errors. He stated that the ICC “realized that an immense mess was made,” as he conveyed to lawmakers.
Al-Masri was detained in Turin following the ICC warrant on January 19, the day after his arrival from Germany to attend a soccer match. According to the Italian government, a court of appeals in Rome mandated his release on January 21 due to technical issues involving the transmission of the ICC warrant, which had originally bypassed the Italian justice ministry.
The ICC has refrained from commenting on the national judicial processes concerning this case.
The arrest of al-Masri has presented a complex issue for Italy, particularly due to its strong connections with the internationally recognized government based in Tripoli and its significant energy interests in that region.
The arrest warrant attributes to al-Masri the role of head of the Tripoli branch of the Reform and Rehabilitation Institution, a notorious network of detention facilities overseen by the government-supported Special Defense Force. This special unit acts as military police addressing severe crimes, including kidnappings, murders, and the issue of illegal migration.
Similar to various militias in western Libya, the Special Defense Force has been linked to severe human rights violations during the civil conflict that erupted following the ousting and assassination of the long-time Libyan leader, Moammar Gadhafi, in 2011.
Furthermore, any potential trial for al-Masri at the ICC could draw unwanted scrutiny towards Italy’s migration policies and its funding of the Libyan coast guard, which aims to restrict the flow of migrants departing from Libya.
In October, the ICC unsealed arrest warrants for six individuals connected to a brutal militia in Libya, which is accused of various severe crimes in a strategically crucial western town where mass graves were uncovered in 2020.
