(see related)
Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister
Antonio Tajani on Thursday accused the International Criminal
Court (ICC) of adopting a "peculiar' position in its handling of
the case of Libyan judicial police commander Najeem Osema
Almasri Habish.
Almasri, who is wanted by the ICC for alleged war crimes and
crimes against humanity, was arrested in Italy earlier this
month but released days later on a technicality.
His release sparked a furore and prompted the ICC to ask Rome
for clarification.
Premier Giorgia Meloni, on the other hand, said she wants
clarification about why the warrant was not issued until Almasri
was in Italy after him being in other European countries in the
preceding days.
Tajani said he found this odd too.
"The attitude of the International Criminal Court is certainly
peculiar, since this gentleman that we expelled had been
travelling around Europe for quite some time. Why didn't they
intervene earlier?
"One should ask the International Criminal Court why it did not
ask Germany to detain Almasri, since he was going around Europe
undisturbed.
"As it happens, when he arrived in Italy there was a request,
and it was formulated badly".
When asked if the government would impose State secrecy on the
investigation into the Almasri case, Tajani said this was an
issue for Meloni.
Almasri was arrested in Turin on Sunday January 19, a day after
the ICC issued its warrant, after previously being in France,
Belgium and Germany for around 12 days.
He was arrested after travelling to the northwestern Italian
city to see a Juventus-AC Milan soccer match on Saturday night.
He is a Milan fan.
He was flown back to Libya to a hero's welcome on an Italian
state flight two days later after Rome said he had to be
expelled because he was dangerous.
He is wanted by the ICC for crimes including murder and rape,
allegedly committed since 2015, and allegedly involving the
abuse of children as young as five.
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