The Libyan prosecutor’s office in Tripoli announced on Wednesday the detention of Osama Almasri Najim, a former police chief wanted by the International Criminal Court over accusations of war crimes and torturing prisoners.
In a statement, the prosecutor’s office said it had gathered information about “human rights violations against inmates at Tripoli’s main prison, who reported being subjected to torture and cruel, degrading treatment”.
Investigators questioned Najim about the alleged abuse of 10 detainees, one of whom died “as a result of torture”, the office said.
Najim was arrested in Italy in January on a warrant from the ICC for war crimes committed since 2015 in the North African country, only to be released by a Rome court and flown home to Tripoli on an Italian air force plane.
His release and repatriation prompted investigations into top Italian officials, including Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, though they were later cleared.
After Najim’s return, the United Nations mission in Libya (UNSMIL) called on authorities “to arrest him and open an investigation into these crimes to ensure full accountability, or to transfer him to the ICC”.
Libya is split between the UN-recognised government in Tripoli, led by Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah, and a rival administration in the east.
The North African country has been divided since a NATO-backed revolt toppled and killed longtime leader Moamer Kadhafi in 2011.
Libya said in May that it accepted the authority of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate alleged war crimes in the country despite not being party to the Rome Statute, the court’s founding treaty.
The ICC has been investigating atrocities in Libya since 2011, following a referral from the United Nations Security Council.
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© Agence France-Presse
