Libyan Warlord Sentenced to Over Seven Years for Detention‑Center Abuse

CAIRO — A Libyan warlord has been convicted of human rights violations at a detention facility in the country’s west, authorities said, more than a year after Italy deported him despite an International Criminal Court arrest warrant.

Ossama Anjiem, also known as Ossama al‑Masri, who headed the Tripoli branch of the Reform and Rehabilitation Institution, received a sentence of seven years and four months in prison for “violating the rights of inmates” who reported torture, cruelty and degrading treatment, according to a Sunday statement from the attorney general’s office.

The facility is part of a network of detention centers operated by the government‑backed Special Defense Force (SDF). It functions as a military police unit tasked with combating crimes such as kidnappings, murders and illegal migration, but it has been linked to atrocities during Libya’s civil war.

The institution did not respond to requests for comment.

In January 2025, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for al‑Masri on suspicion of crimes against humanity and war crimes, including murder, torture, rape and sexual violence allegedly committed in Libya from February 2015 onward.

Al‑Masri was arrested in Turin on the ICC warrant the day after arriving in Italy from Germany to watch a soccer match.

Italy released him on a technicality and expelled him to Libya, sparking outrage among human‑rights groups and prompting an ICC inquiry into why Italy chose deportation instead of surrendering him to The Hague.

Italian Justice Minister Carlo Nordio defended the decision at the time, claiming the ICC had issued a contradictory and flawed arrest warrant.

The attorney general’s office said the Tripoli Criminal Court also ordered that al‑Masri be deprived of his legal capacity and civil rights throughout his sentence and for one year after its completion.

Libya descended into chaos after a NATO‑backed uprising toppled longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. Since then, the oil‑rich country has been divided between rival governments in the east and west, each backed by various armed groups and foreign powers.

Currently, Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah leads the internationally recognized government in Tripoli, while Prime Minister Ossama Hammad heads the administration in the east, where military commander Khalifa Hifter, leader of the Libyan National Army, also wields influence.

The North African nation remains a major transit point for migrants from Africa and the Middle East seeking to escape war and economic hardship by undertaking risky sea journeys to Europe.

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