Italy’s justice minister on Wednesday defended the decision to repatriate accused Libyan war criminal Osama Njeem, blaming an allegedly “flawed” arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC). The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Njeem on January 18 for suspected crimes against humanity and war crimes against detainees in Libya from 2015 onwards.

According to the ICC’s arrest warrant, Njeem committed the crimes personally, “ordered by him, or with his assistance by members of the Special Deterrence Forces” at Mitiga Prison. The crimes were against persons  “imprisoned for religious reasons, for their perceived contraventions to the Special Deterrence Forces religious ideology” or “their alleged support of affiliation to the other armed groups.” The ICC’s warrant outlined that that the crimes fell under Articles 7 and 8 of the Rome Statute.

Following the warrant, Njeem was apprehended and arrested in Italy on January 19th by authorities. According to the ICC, the Italian authorities released and repatriated Njeem “without prior notice or consultation with the court” on January 21. The court demanded an explanation from Italian authorities. Shortly after, an investigation was opened against Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni for Njeem’s release and the National Association of Magistrates expressed that the Minister of Justice should have acted in line with international law. The ICC said that it expected the Italian authorities to consult with the Court immediately to resolve any problems which may have “impede[d] or prevent[ed] the execution” of the warrant.

Minister Carlo Nordio said on Wednesday that the arrest warrant was  “marked by inaccuracies, omissions, discrepancies and contradictory conclusions”. In the lower house of Italian Parliament, Nordio said that an “informal email of a few lines” was received from Interpol just three hours following Njeem’s arrest. He also noted that the dates outlined in the warrant stated that the crimes took place from 2015 onwards, and later said 2011. However, the ICC issued an amended version of the warrant which corrected these typographical errors.

While Nordio defended the repatriation decision, opposition leader Elly Schlein challenged it. She said that the release was a “political choice”. She criticized Prime Minister Meloni’s decision not to attend the chamber session, and said that Nordio “did not speak as a minister but as a defense attorney for a torturer”.

The ICC “recalls the duty of all States Parties to cooperate fully with the Court in its investigations and prosecutions of crimes.”