Overview

• Italy’s memorandum to the ICC labels the June return of General Osama Almasri an expulsion for public order and national security rather than an extradition
• The filing invokes a state of necessity, arguing concrete threats of reprisals against Italian citizens in Libya made the swift removal imperative
• Rome asserts that only the state and the Court of Appeal have standing in the case and maintains the ICC prosecutor lacks authority in domestic proceedings
• Prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan has accused Italy of non-cooperation and sought a UN referral, and her observations are now under ICC review
• A separate Italian tribunal is currently considering whether to grant parliamentary authorization to prosecute senior ministers over the Almasri affair