House Rejects Trial of Italian Ministers in Almasri Case
Rome: The Lower House on Thursday rejected a ministerial court’s request to proceed against ministers Carlo Nordio (justice) and Matteo Piantedosi (interior) and Cabinet Secretary Alfredo Mantovano in relation to the Almasri affair, the Libyan general accused of crimes against humanity who was first arrested and then released and repatriated by Italian authorities.
According to Ansa News Agency, the request to try the three officials was rejected by a more than two-to-one margin, reflecting the government majority in the chamber. The Rome Tribunal of Ministers had sent the request to parliament to prosecute Justice Minister Nordio, Interior Minister Piantedosi, and Cabinet Secretary Mantovano over Italy’s release earlier this year of the Libyan general wanted for war crimes.
The case regards Njeem Osama Almasri, who was arrested on an International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant at a hotel in Turin at dawn on January 19 and was returned to Tripoli on a State flight following his release on a technicality by a Rome appeals court on January 21. Almasri, who was sacked as the head of Libya’s judicial police last month, is accused of torture, rape, and murder in relation to his management of a detention centre in Tripoli.
His release was ordered after Nordio did not respond to the Rome appeals court’s request to back the arrest. The Tribunal of Ministers alleged that Almasri was released because the officials feared there could be reprisals against Italian citizens and interests in Libya if he were handed over to the ICC. Nordio, Piantedosi, and Mantovano, whose brief puts him in charge of Italy’s intelligence services, were accused of aiding and abetting Almasri’s return to Libya. The justice minister was also accused of failing to perform his duties.
Premier Giorgia Meloni was notified in August that the case against her over Almasri’s release had been dropped. She said she stood by her cabinet members, stating it was “absurd” for the court to seek to prosecute Nordio, Piantedosi, and Mantovano and not her, as the government makes its decisions together.
Angela Maria Bitonti, a lawyer representing an Ivorian woman who was tortured by Almasri, has presented a petition against the decision to shelve the case against Meloni. Almasri has reportedly been removed from his duties and replaced by General Suleiman Ajaj as head of judicial security operations, the Libyan website al-Masdar reported. The decision was reportedly made by the head of the judicial police, General Abdul Fattah Dubub, who, according to other sources, initiated a reorganization within the organization to improve Libya’s image and reputation following the Almasri war crimes charges.
Meloni’s Brothers of Italy (FdI) party has said the two ministers and the cabinet secretary had only been acting in Italy’s State interests in freeing Almasri. Piantedosi has said he was forced to release the Libyan and order his flight back to Tripoli aboard a secret service plane because he was a dangerous individual.