{"id":226602,"date":"2025-01-29T04:31:11","date_gmt":"2025-01-29T04:31:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/29\/giorgia-meloni-investigated-for-italys-release-of-libyan-war-crimes-suspect\/"},"modified":"2025-01-29T04:31:12","modified_gmt":"2025-01-29T04:31:12","slug":"giorgia-meloni-investigated-for-italys-release-of-libyan-war-crimes-suspect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/29\/giorgia-meloni-investigated-for-italys-release-of-libyan-war-crimes-suspect\/","title":{"rendered":"Giorgia Meloni Investigated for Italy\u2019s Release of Libyan War Crimes Suspect"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/01\/28\/multimedia\/28meloni-1-jpvg\/28melon-1-jpvg-facebookJumbo.jpg?ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Giorgia Meloni Investigated for Italy\u2019s Release of Libyan War Crimes Suspect\" title=\"Giorgia Meloni Investigated for Italy\u2019s Release of Libyan War Crimes Suspect\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of Italy announced on Tuesday that she was being investigated by Italian prosecutors for her alleged role in aiding and abetting the release last week of a Libyan official wanted on war crimes charges.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The case <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/01\/24\/world\/europe\/italy-libya-migrants-international-criminal-court.html\" title=\"\">focused on Italy\u2019s arrest and quick release<\/a> of Osama Elmasry Njeem, the director of several Libyan prisons known for their inhumane conditions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Last week, the Italian police arrested Mr. Njeem in a Turin hotel room after the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued an international warrant. Mr. Njeem was wanted in connection with crimes against humanity, including murder, torture, rape and sexual violence.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Shortly after he was arrested, Mr. Njeem was released for what the Italian authorities called a procedural issue. He was then taken back to Libya on a government plane.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">His release set off an outcry by human rights groups and opposition leaders, who accused Ms. Meloni of cozying up to the Libyan authorities because Italy relied on Libya to keep migrants from Italian shores.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The International Criminal Court also objected, issuing a statement recalling \u201cthe duty of all States Parties to cooperate fully with the Court in its investigations and prosecutions of crimes.\u201d It said it had asked the Italian authorities to clarify their actions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Ms. Meloni said in a video posted on social media on Tuesday that Mr. Njeem had been released because the I.C.C.\u2019s arrest warrant had not been transmitted to the Italian justice ministry, making the arrest invalid.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Ms. Meloni said that Mr. Njeem had then been expelled and taken back to Libya because of security reasons.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI cannot be blackmailed,\u201d she said. \u201cI will not let myself be intimidated.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Ms. Meloni said Rome\u2019s chief prosecutor, Francesco Lo Voi, was also investigating Italy\u2019s justice minister, Carlo Nordio; Italy\u2019s interior minister, Matteo Piantedosi; and the interior under secretary, Alfredo Mantovano.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-2\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In the video, Ms. Meloni said that it was \u201ccurious\u201d that the I.C.C., \u201cafter months of reflection,\u201d issued the arrest warrant right when Mr. Njeem was about to enter the Italian territory, after having spent about 12 days in three other European countries. It was unclear what she was hinting at.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">News of the investigation of Ms. Meloni caught Italian lawmakers by surprise, with moments of tension in the lower house.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The case was likely to <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/10\/28\/world\/europe\/italy-meloni-asylum-judiciary.html\" title=\"\">rekindle an ongoing dispute between the judiciary and Ms. Meloni<\/a>, who, like many conservative politicians in Italy, has accused Italian judges of overreaching to pursue political agendas.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini pointed out in a post on X that Mr. Lo Voi was the same prosecutor who had taken him to court in Palermo, Sicily, on charges that Mr. Salvini had illegally refused to allow a boat carrying migrants to dock in Italy five years ago.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Salvini <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/12\/20\/world\/europe\/italy-salvini-migrants.html\" title=\"\">was acquitted of the charges in December<\/a>. \u201cShame, shame, shame,\u201d he wrote on the social media platform. \u201cJustice reform immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-3\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Even some of Ms. Meloni\u2019s critics were surprised by the investigation into the prime minister.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The handling of Mr. Njeem\u2019s case was \u201ca disaster, telling Italians a bunch of lies,\u201d said Carlo Calenda, the leader of Azione, a centrist party. But investigating the prime minister \u201cwas surreal and wouldn\u2019t happen in any other Western country,\u201d Mr. Calenda told the news agency ANSA.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Giovanni Barbero of the Refounded Communist Party said, however, that it was only right for judges to investigate what had transpired because \u201ctoo many gray areas\u201d surrounded the case. No one was above the law, he told Italian news media.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/01\/28\/world\/europe\/italy-meloni-investigation-libya-war-crimes.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of Italy announced on Tuesday that she was being investigated by Italian prosecutors for her alleged role in aiding and abetting the release last week of a Libyan official wanted on war crimes charges. The case focused on Italy\u2019s arrest and quick release of Osama Elmasry Njeem, the director of several [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":226603,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/01\/28\/multimedia\/28meloni-1-jpvg\/28melon-1-jpvg-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[5220,38611,164056,2566,3096,14271,156,34540,18524,79768,37415,177845,177846,137131,191,18091,3102],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226602"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=226602"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226602\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":226604,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226602\/revisions\/226604"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/226603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=226602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=226602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=226602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}