Italian police have arrested a Libyan warlord on a warrant from the International Criminal Court.
Ossama Anjiem, also known as Ossama al-Masri, heads the Tripoli branch of the Reform and Rehabilitation Institution, a notorious network of detention centres run by the government-backed Special Defence Force.
The SDF acts as a military police unit combating high-profile crimes including kidnappings, murders as well as illegal migration.
Like many other militias in western Libya, the SDF has been implicated in atrocities in the civil war that followed the overthrow and killing of long time Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.
Recently, the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor issued arrest warrants over alleged crimes in Libya beyond the civil war, including in detention facilities where human rights groups have documented abuses.
Italian newspapers Avvenire and La Stampa reported that al-Masri was arrested in Turin on Sunday on an warrant from the Hague-based court after he attended a Juventus-Milan soccer match the night before.
His lawyer Daniele Folino confirmed the arrest, but said he couldn’t provide details since he hadn’t been officially appointed.
