Italy MPs protect ministers from trial in Libya case

The lower house of parliament, where Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's right-wing coalition has a comfortable majority, voted Thursday to reject the request. (Reuters/File)

• The Tribunal of Ministers requested parliamentary approval in August to prosecute them
• Najim, head of Libya’s judicial police, was arrested in Turin on January 19

ROME: Italy’s parliament Thursday blocked attempts to prosecute two senior ministers and a top official over the controversial release of a Libyan official suspected of committing war crimes.
Justice Minister Carlo Nordio, Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, and Cabinet Undersecretary Alfredo Mantovano — who oversees intelligence matters — have been investigated for their roles in the release and repatriation of Osama Almasri Najim in January.
The Tribunal of Ministers — a judicial body tasked with handling cases involving government members — requested parliamentary approval in August to prosecute them.
But the lower house of parliament, where Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing coalition has a comfortable majority, voted Thursday to reject the request.
Najim, head of Libya’s judicial police, was arrested in Turin on January 19 on a warrant from the International Criminal Court, only to be released by a Rome court on procedural grounds.
He was then flown home to Tripoli on an Italian air force plane.
Nordio defended his release at the time, saying the ICC warrant for his arrest had been poorly written.
Meloni was also investigated, but said in August she had been cleared.