Giorgia Meloni has revealed she is under judicial investigation over Italy’s surprise release of a prison officer wanted for war crimes in Libya.

Osama Elmasry Njeem was freed last week and flown home by an Italian state plane just days after being arrested in the northern city of Turin by police acting on an International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant.

The ICC say Najim was the chief of Libya’s judicial police and the presiding authority at Mitiga prison—a facility notorious for arbitrary and lengthy detentions, torture, abuse of migrants and political dissidents.

Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni reacts during a Senate hearing (LaPresse)

Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni reacts during a Senate hearing (LaPresse)

In a video message posted on her Facebook account, the Italian prime minister said she is suspected of aiding and abetting a crime and embezzlement in connection to the case.

The ICC say Njeem is alleged to have been in charge of a prison holding thousands in Tripoli. He is suspected of crimes against humanity and war crimes, including murder, torture, rape and sexual violence, allegedly committed in Libya from February 2015

The ICC demanded an explanation, saying it had not been consulted over the decision to release the wanted police officer.

The suspect was located in Turin, Italy, in the early hours of Sunday, 19 January and was successfully arrested by the Italian authorities.

But on 21 January without prior notice or consultation with the ICC, Njeem was reportedly released from custody and transported back to Libya.

Italy’s interior minister said the Libyan had been swiftly repatriated because of his “social dangerousness”.

Meloni said in a message posted on social media that she had been placed under investigation for allegedly aiding and abetting a crime and misuse of public funds.

She is under no obligation to resign, and being placed under investigation in Italy does not imply guilt, nor mean that formal charges will necessarily follow.

“I will not be blackmailed, I will not allow myself to be intimidated, which may be why I am, let’s say, disliked by those who do not want Italy to change and become better,” Meloni said in a video.

She said she believed the investigation had been triggered by Luigi Li Gotti, a lawyer who announced last week that he had lodged a complaint over the release of Njeem and the use of an official jet to fly him back to Tripoli.

Meloni also said the case was being led by the same prosecutor who investigated Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini in Sicily for allegedly kidnapping 100 migrants aboard a boat that he had blocked at sea for nearly three weeks in 2019.

Salvini was acquitted in that case last month.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani made light of the ICC’s objections, telling reporters the international court “is not the word of God, it’s not the font of all truth.”

“Italy is a sovereign country and we make our own decisions,” he added.

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