The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has welcomed a decision by Pre-Trial Chamber I to grant its request to lift the confidentiality of an arrest warrant for suspect Seif Suleiman Sneidl, accused of committing war crimes in eastern Libya.
According to Prosecutor Karim Khan, Sneidl is alleged to have participated in three executions between June 2016 and July 2017 in Benghazi and surrounding areas, which resulted in the deaths of a total of 23 people. The charges include wilful killing, outrages upon personal dignity, and torture, committed in the context of a non-international armed conflict.
The arrest warrant was originally issued in November 2020, with the chamber finding reasonable grounds to believe Sneidl bore criminal responsibility for the executions and acts of torture. In July this year, the Prosecutor’s Office requested that the warrant be unsealed to increase the likelihood of apprehension, citing changed circumstances.
Deputy Prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan said the unsealing decision would enhance prospects for arrest, allowing the ICC to engage more openly with states, the UN Security Council, and the wider international community to secure support and cooperation.
The Office of the ICC Prosecutor urged Libyan authorities to execute the arrest warrant in line with UN Security Council Resolution 1970 (2011), which referred the Libya situation to the ICC.
The Sneidl case falls under the ICC’s investigative track into alleged crimes committed between 2014 and 2020, one of four main Libya-related investigations, alongside 2011 violence, crimes in detention facilities, and crimes against migrants.
The Prosecutor reaffirmed that the Libya situation remains a “priority” for the Court.
