The Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, is the subject of an investigation by the Rome prosecution for complicity and embezzlement in the expulsion of Ossama Almasri, head of the Libyan judicial police and commander of the Libyan prison de Mitiga, sought after by the ICC.
The head of the Italian government Giorgia Meloni announced on Tuesday in a video on Facebook that she and two of her ministers were targeted by an investigation after the expulsion of a Libyan official, accusing the magistrates of politicizing their function.
Osama Almasri Najim, head of the Libyan judicial police, is the subject of an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (CPI) for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed since February 15, 2015. Ten days in a Turin hotel under this mandate, he was released on the orders of the Rome Court of Appeal a week ago for procedural defect, and expelled towards Tripoli aboard a plane chartered by the Italian state.
This decision first aroused the controversy of the opposition, then the lawyer Luigi Li Gotti began a legal action by filing a complaint in which he asked the judges to investigate the use of a plane from the government Italian to repatriate Almasri.
Giorgia Meloni is suspected with his ministers of justice Carlo Nordio and the interior Matteo Piantedosi to have facilitated the liberation of the Libyan and his referral to Tripoli. Giorgia Meloni directly implicated magistrates that she criticized for being politicized.
The Libyan responseable has been able to circulate freely in several European Uunion countries
The Tripoli judicial police chief had been in Europe since January 6. He had landed in Rome to make a stopover in London. He then moved smoothly between France, Germany and Belgium.
On January 16, he was arrested in Munich for routine control and the next day ,, Interpol had sent an alert to six states, informing Italy that the man was going to cross his borders and that a room in Turin had been reserved for his name as well as a rented car in Germany had to be returned to the airport of FIUMICINO.
On January 18, Osama Almasri Najim had been arrested in the Piedmont, but quickly released because there was no active report on him. At the same time, the ICC urgently examined the request for arrest against it, which was hanging since October 2, 2024. The arrest warrant was then issued. On January 19 at dawn, the Libyan official was arrested and spent two nights in the Vallette prison in Turin.
The question of the authorization of the Nordio Minister
His file had then been sent to Rome, where the general prosecutor’s office of the Court of Appeal addressed to the Minister of Justice Carlo Nordio on January 20 to validate the measure.
The arrest had been carried out for extradition purposes, while in the case of an international arrest warrant, the minister’s authorization would have been necessary. However, he was not warned. The court therefore did not validate the arrest.
On January 21, Almasri was released and expelled as “Dangerous person” by decree of Minister Matteo Piantedosi. The man left Rome and landed in Libya aboard a military plane and not on a regular flight, as is the case for the repatriation of migrants in an irregular situation.
Meloni responds to accusations in a video
After receiving the warranty notice, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni published a video on social networks in which she comments on the case. She recalled that he was the prosecutor in Palermo in charge of the accusation in the trial of his government vice-chief, the anti-immigration leader Matteo Salvini, tried to have blocked migrants at sea while he was minister from the interior in 2019, and relaxed.
“The facts are known. The International Criminal Court, after months of reflection, issued an international arrest warrant against the chief of the Judicial Police of Tripoli, Almasri. Curiously, the court does it when this person was on The point of entering Italian territory, after having peacefully stayed in three other European states for twelve days. “
On Wednesday, Meloni posted a new message on X. “Our commitment to defending Italy will continue, as always, with determination and without hesitation”wrote the Italian Prime Minister. “When the security of the nation and the interest of the Italians are at stake, there is no room for the steps back. Right on our way.”
Tensions between the government and the judiciary
The warranty opinion issued to Prime Minister Meloni is only the last episode to date with increasing tensions between the executive and the judiciary, at a time when the power coalition is preparing to reform the Italian judicial system and Introduce the separation of careers.
On Wednesday, the Court of Cassation should decide whether the documents of the Visibilia case, which implies the Minister of Tourism Daniela Santanched, must remain in Milan or be transmitted to the prosecutor’s office in Rome. Ms. Santanchè is notably accused of aggravated fraud at the National Social Security Institute (INPS) as part of the COVVI-9 period of dismissal. 13 employees of two companies are affected by the survey, which would have been dismissed without knowing it. By continuing to work, they have, according to the prosecution, caused a damage of more than 126,000 euros to the INPS.
ADVERTISEMENTOn Thursday, another decision of the judges of the Rome Court of Appeal to validate or not the detention of the 49 migrants arrived Tuesday morning at the Hotspot in Shengjin, in Albania, aboard the Cassiopea patroller, is expected.
Vulnerabilities had been noted in some of the migrants, who were then returned to Italy – a decision that had triggered the controversy around the Meloni government.
The next stages of the investigation include an examination by the ministerial crimes panel, made up of three magistrates. The panel has 90 days to conduct its investigation before deciding, either to classify the case after consulting the prosecutor, or to send the file to the competent parliamentary commissions to request authorization to initiate prosecution.
