Overview
- Libya’s Prosecutor General ordered Almasri’s arrest, citing evidence that at least ten detainees were tortured at Tripoli’s Mitiga facility and that one died from torture.
- The suspect has been placed in pretrial detention and formally referred to a Libyan court after interrogation and completion of an initial investigation.
- Almasri remains wanted by the ICC for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity, yet his referral to a national tribunal raises uncertainty over any handover to The Hague.
- His custody in Tripoli revives Italy’s controversy from January, when he was arrested in Turin on an ICC warrant, then released and flown back to Libya after the Justice Ministry did not pursue the arrest.
- Victims’ lawyers in Italy announced plans to seek damages from the state, while Prime Minister Abdelhamid Dbeibah praised the arrest as proof that no one is above the law and analysts link the move to shifting power dynamics in Tripoli.