Left-wing member of the Italian Parliament, Marco Grimaldi submitted an interrogation request to Interior Minister, Matteo Biantidozzi. This was after meeting with his Libyan counterpart, Emad Al-Trabelsi, who is accused of human trafficking.
Trabelsi was appointed Interior Minister in a “temporary” capacity by Prime Minister Abdel-Hamid Dbaiba on 6 November 2022.
Grimaldi cited a report by ‘Libya Review’ on Trabelsi’s arrest by the French police at Charles de Gaulle airport, and was released a few hours later.
“On 3 March, Libya Review reported that the Libyan Interior Minister Emad Trabelsi was arrested by the French police in Paris, at Charles de Gaulle airport, while “transporting a large sum of money in cash.”
He added that other press sources, including Italian ones, have reported that Trabelsi was carrying “half a million euros,” on which the Minister would not have been able to give explanations.
“Trabelsi has been linked to the trafficking of migrants since before becoming minister, according to Limes magazine,” the MP added in his interrogation. “We want to know why is Italy dealing with a Libyan trafficker?”
“In 2018, Trabelsi was cited in an annual human rights report prepared by the US State Department, which reported information from the United Nations on rights violations in Libya. Trabelsi was identified as a militiaman, received funds illegally, and controlled an armed group called the Special Operation Forces. They allegedly collected about $3,600 dollars for each tanker that crossed the Libyan checkpoints,” Grimaldi added.
Amnesty International has indicted Trabelsi as “one of the worst violators of human rights and international humanitarian law,” the Italian MP said.
“The Italian authorities have met Trabelsi on various occasions to discuss relations between the two states, but in particular the management of migrants,” he added.
On 29 December 2022, Trabelsi received a delegation from the Italian Ministry of the Interior, and the Italian Secret Service.
On 21 February, Biantidozzi met Trabelsi in his office to discuss “common actions to manage migratory flows, in order to block departures from Libya.”
Grimaldi concluded that “it is necessary to investigate the relationship between Biantidozzi and Trabelsi, who is a figure accused of smuggling of migrants and violations of human rights.”
