By : Lloyd Mahachi
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni says she has been subjected to a judicial investigation over Italy’s surprise release of a Libyan citizen who had been on the wanted list for war crimes by the International Criminal Court .
In a video message shared on social media on Tuesday, Meloni said she was suspected by prosecutors of corruption and funding and supporting a crime.
Osama Najim also known as Almasri is the head of Libya’s judicial police and the director of an infamous detention centre in Mitiga, near Tripoli the capital of Libya.
Mr Najim was arrested in Italy on 21 January and unexpectedly freed days later after the arrest “due to a legal technicality”, the interior ministry said.
The ICC, which said it had not been consulted over the case, rapidly issued another arrest for Mr Najim and demanded an explanation from the Italian authorities.
In the video, Meloni said the Rome appeals court released Mr Najim because the ICC warrant had not been sent to the Italian justice ministry.
“At that point, so as not to let him go free on Italian territory, we decided to expel him and repatriate him immediately, with a special flight,” Meloni said.
Last week, Justice Minister Carlo Nordio said that Mr Najim had been expelled because of the “danger” he raised.
The decision to free Mr Najim was strongly denounced by the opposition and NGOs such as Amnesty International, which said Mr Najim was guilty of “horrific violations committed with total impunity”.
Meloni said that Nordio, Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi and the cabinet under secretary for intelligence matters, Alfredo Mantovano, had also been placed under the investigation. Being placed under investigation in Italy does not mean that formal charges will necessarily follow, it’s just a procedure.
In a resistant tone, the Italian PM appeared to hint at political motives for the investigation.
She pointed out the lawyer who filed the complaint, Luigi Li Gotti, was a former left-wing politician, while the prosecutor leading the case, Francesco Lo Voi, recently investigated Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini on an unrelated matter.
The video ended Meloni saying that she could not be manipulated or pressured.
“This may be why I’m unpopular among those who don’t want Italy to change and improve,” she said.
“But that’s precisely the reason I intend to continue on my way, protecting Italians, especially when the nation’s safety is at stake, head held high with no fear,” she added.
Matteo Renzi of the opposition party Italy Alive (IV) was among the first people to denounce Mr Najim’s release argued that he felt Meloni was “exploiting” the investigation to “feed her usual victim complex”.
Editor : Josephine Mahachi