Italy, Libya, and the Failure of State Cooperation with the International Criminal Court in the Elmasry Arrest Case

The case concerns the arrest of a high-ranking Libyan police officer, Osama Elmasry Njeem (also known as “Almasri”), pursuant to a sealed ICC arrest warrant, for grave war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the Mitiga prison, in Tripoli, the country’s capital. Arrested on Jan. 19, 2025, by Italian police officers (of the special unit called “Digos,” in charge of judicial cooperation) in Turin while he was there for personal reasons (reportedly attending a Juventus-Milan soccer match), Elmasry was released two days later, on Jan. 21, by order of the Rome Court of Appeal and quickly transferred to Libya on an Italian military plane. On Jan. 22, the ICC issued a press release outlining the facts, and the arrest warrant, issued on Jan. 18, 2025, by Pre-Trial Chamber I, was subsequently unsealed.