Libya has detained senior police officer Osama Almasri Njeem, months after Italy released him despite international war crimes allegations, officials said Wednesday.
Njeem stands accused by the International Criminal Court of overseeing, ordering, or assisting in torture, murder, and rape of detainees at Tripoli’s Mitiga Prison since 2015.
Libya’s attorney general confirmed his pretrial detention, citing evidence of “torture and cruel and degrading treatment” of inmates, including one death under interrogation.
Authorities did not disclose when Njeem was arrested or how he responded to the charges.
Investigators questioned him about human rights violations against ten inmates, according to the prosecutor’s statement.
Njeem, head of the Operations and Judicial Security Department in Tripoli’s Justice Ministry, serves under the country’s internationally recognised government.
He was arrested by Italian police in Turin last January but freed two days later after Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government intervened, citing procedural errors in the international warrant.
Rome’s decision to repatriate Njeem on a state aircraft sparked outrage in Italy, where opposition lawmakers accused the government of prioritising ties with Libya over justice.
The Rome Tribunal of Ministers later sought to lift immunity for three ministers involved, but Meloni’s parliamentary majority blocked the request.
The International Criminal Court criticised Italy’s handling of the case, saying it undermined accountability for grave human rights abuses.
The Italian government has not commented on Njeem’s renewed detention.
Libya, still fractured since the 2011 uprising that ousted Muammar Gaddafi, remains plagued by lawlessness, political divisions, and rampant abuse within its prison system.
Njeem’s case now sits at the intersection of international justice, diplomatic tension, and Libya’s fragile struggle to assert the rule of law.
