ROME (Reuters) – Italian authorities have arrested a senior member of Libya’s judicial police, acting on a warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC) over war crimes accusations, a source with knowledge of the matter said on Tuesday.
The man was apprehended in the northern city of Turin, the source told Reuters, adding the case had been forwarded to the justice ministry and the appeals court in Rome.
Libyan authorities were not immediately available and an ICC spokesperson did not immediately respond to Reuters’ questions.
The source did not name the man, but Italian media identified him as Njeem Osama Elamsry while in Libya he is listed in government records as Osama Njeem.
The suspect was caught in a hotel following a tip from international police body Interpol and was in Turin in the company of other Libyans, newspaper la Repubblica reported.
Italian daily Avvenire, which first reported the arrest, said the man managed a migrant detention centre in the capital Tripoli as part of his role with the judicial police, and was affiliated with the powerful military Special Deterrence Force.
Italian migrant rescue charity Mediterranea hailed the arrest and renewed criticism of deals under which Italy and the EU help Libyan authorities stop migrant sea crossings to Europe.
The deals have been attacked by the United Nations, human rights experts and international charities such as Doctors Without Borders for supporting and abetting widespread abuse and exploitation that migrants suffer in Libya.
(Reporting by Emilio Parodi, additional reporting by Stephanie Van Der Berg in The Hague, writing by Giulia Segreti, editing by Alvise Armellini and Andrew Cawthorne)
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