Rome: The Tribunal of Ministers has initiated a formal investigation into the case of Libyan judicial police chief Osama Almasri. Almasri was released on a technicality and returned to Libya on a secret services plane shortly after his arrest by Italian authorities on January 19. He had been apprehended on an International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
According to Ansa News Agency, the tribunal has requested several documents from the justice ministry, Rome’s appeals court, and the State attorney’s office at the appeals tribunal. These documents are intended to clarify the events that transpired between Almasri’s initial arrest in a Turin hotel and his subsequent release by the Rome appeals court on January 21. The release was ordered because Justice Minister Carlo Nordio did not respond to the tribunal’s request to support the arrest.
Premier Giorgia Meloni, Justice Minister Carlo Nordio, Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, and Cabinet Undersecretary Alfredo Mantovano are under investigation after attorney Luigi Li Gotti filed a criminal complaint against them. The complaint alleges aiding and abetting and embezzlement due to the use of a secret services flight to return Almasri to Libya.
The complaint was sent to government officials and forwarded by Rome chief prosecutor Francesco Lo Voi to the Tribunal of Ministers. This process falls under a constitutional law that requires investigations involving cabinet members to be conducted by the special court instead of State attorneys.
The court documents under review by the Tribunal of Ministers include communications between the court and the justice ministry, the Italian embassy in the Netherlands, and a draft document prepared by justice ministry officials. This document, which was intended to keep Almasri in prison, was not presented to the judges responsible for deciding his detention.
Justice Minister Nordio, in a report to Parliament, explained that the ICC arrest warrant contained faults, which prevented him from responding promptly to the request from Rome’s appeals court. This issue contributed to the court’s decision on Almasri’s release. The justice ministry oversees all interactions with the ICC based in The Hague.
