The release of the brigadier general has become a case. He had a warrant from the International Criminal Court hanging over him for alleged war crimes, physical and psychological torture and suspicious deaths that have never been clarified.
Who is Almasri Habish - After the fall of Gaddafi in 2011, Almasri began serving in the Libyan armed forces with experience in the Deterrence Apparatus, one of the most important militias involved in the fight against terrorism and organized crime (Dacto). Having become one of the leading commanders of the armed forces that control Tripoli, he grew within this apparatus and reached a position of great importance, operating from the headquarters located at Mitiga airport. Here, the Dacto coordinates numerous detention centers, some of which, according to complaints from international organizations, are used to imprison migrants intercepted by the Libyan coast guard, which receives technical and training support from Italy through the Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2017 between Rome and Tripoli. His influence grew further in 2021, when he was appointed director of the Institute for Reform and Rehabilitation of the Judicial Police in Tripoli. In this role, he gained control of the capital's main prison facilities, including Mitiga, Jdeida, Ruwaimi and Ain Zara.
The armed clashes in Tripoli in 2022 - Al Najim, a brigadier general, is affiliated with the powerful Special Deterrence Force and is also known by the name of Almasri. The Libyan media also defines him as the head of the prison administration of Tripoli, and he hit the headlines in 2022, in the context of the armed clashes in the Sabaa area, east of the Libyan capital Tripoli, near the headquarters of the secret services of the Ministry of the Interior: on one side, the men of the Presidential Guard led by deputy commander Ayoub Bouras were facing each other; on the other, the forces of the Najim judicial police affiliated with the Rada, a Libyan armed group specialized in the fight against terrorism and organized crime led by the Salafi commander Abdul Rauf Kara.
The charges - Almasri was stopped at the Turin stadium while watching the Juventus-Milan league match. The man was detained by Italian authorities following an alleged report from Interpol on charges of alleged war crimes and serious human rights violations, including physical and psychological torture and suspicious deaths that have never been clarified, committed since February 15, 2011. In fact, he had a warrant pending against him from the International Criminal Court (ICC) based in The Hague for "crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Mitiga prison, punishable by a maximum sentence of life imprisonment". According to the Libyan newspaper "Al Wasat", he was present on a confidential list included in the 2023 report of the Commission of Inquiry into Human Rights Violations in Libya. The list, in addition to containing six known names, also includes numerous other unidentified figures.
Mass graves - The Mitiga complex is home not only to the only civilian airport currently serving Tripoli, but also to a major prison where political opponents and terrorists of the Islamic State are held, and an air base from which Turkish-made attack drones are launched. It is unclear what episodes the war crimes alleged against Al Najim refer to. His alleged participation in the mass graves found in Tarhuna after the ceasefire in force since October 2020, which the ICC is investigating, has not been ruled out.
The release and the procedural error - The arrest was not validated and the man, expelled from Italy, was repatriated on a flight to the Libyan capital on the evening of Tuesday 21 January. The collapse of the prosecution case was caused by a procedural error by the Turin police headquarters. In fact, the Court of Appeal of Rome ruled that the agents did not have the authority to proceed with the arrest on their own. The mandates of the International Criminal Court require a specific procedure that includes a preliminary step through the Ministry of Justice. The documents were sent to the Minister of Justice, Carlo Nordio, only the day after the arrest, last Monday 20 January. At that point, the minister should have sent a formal request to the Attorney General of Rome to validate the arrest, but this step never took place, leading the Court of Appeal to order the immediate release.
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