On January 19th, 2025, Libyan police chief and director of Tripoli’s infamous Mitiga detention center, Najeem Almasri, was arrested by Italian authorities on a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Libya from February 2015 onwards.

On January 21st, three judges of Rome’s Appeal Court (IV Sez. Penale) released Almasri who was immediately flown back to Libya on board an Italian government flight. The Interior Minister, Matteo Piantedosi, explained that Almasri was expelled from Italy because he is considered a dangerous individual.

Almasri’s release led to an investigation initiated by a prosecutor in Rome against Italian PM Giorgia Meloni, Justice Minister Carlo Nordio, Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi and Undersecretary to the Prime Minister Alfredo Mantovano.

However, in response to it, lawyer Luigi Mele filed a complaint against the prosecutor (Francesco Lo Voi and against lawyer Luigi Li Gotti), hypothesizing the crimes of aggravated slander, attack against the constitutional bodies and contempt of the institutions.

The Almasri affair is particularly chaotic and shows signs of a possible feud within the Italian political-institutional apparatus. According to a reconstruction of the issue by Massimo Solari on the news site Italia Oggi, the Italian authorities did not release…