Justice minister claims ICC arrest warrant for Almasri was flawed.

The Italian government on Wednesday blamed its controversial release of a Libyan war crimes suspect on a flawed arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Osama Almasri Najim, Libya’s chief of judicial police and director of a notorious detention centre in Mitiga, was arrested in the northern Italian city of Turin on 19 January, on a warrant issued by the Hague-based ICC.

However two days later he was released on a technicality and repratiated to Tripoli on an Italian secret services plane, sparking harsh criticism of the government's decision to free a man accused of crimes including murder, rape and torture.

Addressing parliament on Wednesday, justice minister Carlo Nordio said the ICC arrest warrant was flawed due to inconsistencies including the "absolute uncertainty over the date of the alleged crimes," noting that it was "issued in English, without translation, and with various attachments in Arabic."

Amid ongoing tensions between Italy's right-wing government and the judiciary, Nordio also claimed that "a certain faction of the judiciary" had criticised the government's actions "without even reading the files".

Interior minister Matteo Piantedosi reiterated that Almasri had been expelled because he posed a "high level of danger" to the public, denying categorically any suggestion that the government had come under pressure in the form of "threats" or "blackmail" to secure the Libyan's release.

Opposition politicians and critics of Meloni's government have linked the release of Almasri to a deal between Rome and Tripoli to stem the flow of migrant crossings to Italy.

Elly Schlein, leader of the opposition centre-left Partito Democratico (PD), accused Nordio of speaking not as a government minister but as a "defence lawyer for a torturer".

Schlein also noted the absence of prime minister Giorgia Meloni in parliament, accusing her of cowardice for not presenting herself to answer questions.

Last week Meloni revealed that she, Nordio and Piantedosi had been placed under investigation in relation to the Almasri case, on charges of alleged "aiding and abetting a crime and embezzlement".

In a video she posted on social media, a defiant Meloni made it clear that she considers the investigation a political attack, insisting: "I am not blackmailable, I am not intimidated".

Image: Italian justice minister Carlo Nordio. Photo credit: Pierre Teyssot / Shutterstock.com.