Italian Attorney General Carlo Nordio said Rome had no choice but to release a suspect in a Libyan war crime in an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Libyan Justice Police Chief Osama Almasri Najim was arrested in Turin on January 19.
Two days later, He was released and flew back to Tripoli on Italian Air Force plane.
Mr. Najim faces various charges, including murder, rape and torture, related to his role in the Mitiga Detention Centre in Little Tripoli, and his release has drawn condemnation from opposition parties and non-governmental organizations.
Speaking to the Italian Parliament on Wednesday, Carlo Nordio said the warrant that led to Najim’s detention was plagued by “inaccurate, omission, difference and contradictory conclusions” which meant that Libyan citizens could not Being held in prison.
Home Minister Matteo Piantedosi said Mr Najim was a “national security risk” and was fired.
Images shared by Libyan media show that the welcome crowd who welcomed Mr. Najim to come back is widely circulated in Italian media. The International Criminal Court requested an explanation from the Italian authorities.
Opposition Democratic Party (PD) leader Elly Schlein accused Nordio of not being a government minister but as a “defense lawyer for torture.”
Last week, First Minister Giorgia Meloni Revealing that she, Nordio and Piantedosi are investigating related to Najim’s release.
The special court that deals with cases involving the Minister has begun an investigation.
David Yambio, 27, from South Sudan, said he was abused in a prison in Mitiga in Tripoli, telling the BBC that Italy “is happening in Libya” a complicity of atrocities.”
He said he first met Mr. Najim after being arrested at sea while trying to cross the Mediterranean and return to Libya.
After he was forced to join the militia (after he said it was a “pure nightmare”), Mr. Janby eventually said in Mitiga that he said he had suffered months of torture. He also said he had seen Mr. Najim abuse other immigrants.
“The injustice we suffer and the complicity of Italy in our eyes is obvious. They took justice away.”
Mr Yambio added: “Our torturer is in Italy and he was arrested and then he was smuggled back to Libya.”
As the signator of the ICC, Italy must legally enforce the court’s arrest warrant.
But critics believe that Italy’s decision to release Mr. Najim may be affected by political and commercial relations with Libya.
In 2017, Paolo Gentiloni Center Government A deal with Tripoli sees Italy paying the Libyan Coast Guard to intercept migrant ships Before they reach the Italian coast.
NGOs have been criticizing the policy, saying it exposes migrants to the terrible conditions in Libya’s detention centres.
The case has now ruled the Italian headlines for weeks.
However, given the government’s solid parliamentary majority, the investigation into Meloni, Nordio and Piantedosi is unlikely to have any meaningful consequences.
Last week, Meloni suggested that the investigation was part of a well-motivated attack by the left and said she would not be “ratitude or intimidated.”
But some commentators argue that Libya’s ability to use its relationship with Rome focused on Italy’s vulnerability in immigration – one of Meloni’s flagship issues.
Nathalie Tocci, director of the Rome International Affairs Association, said: “Although Meloni insists that she is not vulnerable to blackmail from the judiciary, she is very vulnerable given her concern for immigration. Libya’s attack.”
She added that Libya has “weaponized and exploited” the issue.
“The implicit message is: You either release Mr. Najim or we will let the immigration ship pass.”
Libya plays a key role in the success of Meloni’s Mattei program, an ambitious set of policies aimed at promoting European cooperation with Africa in exchange for curbing the scope of irregular migration.
“The problem in Libya is and remains… a problem of national security, which means the safety of all citizens,” former interior minister Marco Minniti told Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera.
“A large part of national security goes beyond national borders.”
For other survivors of the atrocities Mr Yambio and Mr Najim accused of, they said the release of the men who tortured them was a “deep betrayal.”
In a letter to Giorgia Meloni, they called for an end to the Italian-Libyan immigration agreement and the release of those still in detention in Libyan camps.
“We are witnesses to many of the crimes Mr. Najim is responsible for,” Mr. Yambio said.
