A Libyan national accused of overseeing grave abuses at a notorious detention facility has asked judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) to grant his release, marking a rare courtroom appearance by a Libyan suspect since the Court began investigating atrocities linked to the 2011 civil war.
During a hearing on Wednesday, the suspect — Khaled Mohamed Ali Al-Hishri, aged 47 — told the judges that he “only requests to be released,” after they asked whether he wished to comment on his arrest. Al-Haishri faces charges of crimes against humanity, including murder, torture, and sexual violence, linked to the operation of the Mitiga prison in western Libya.
Prosecutors allege that thousands of detainees, including women and minors, were held for prolonged periods in the facility, where they were subjected to severe mistreatment. The ICC has issued nine arrest warrants for Libyans since launching its investigation, but Al-Hishri is the first to be held in the Court’s detention unit.
He was arrested in Germany in July and was transferred to The Hague earlier this week. ICC judges clarified that any request for interim release must be submitted formally in writing before it can be considered.
A confirmation-of-charges hearing is scheduled for 19 May, though his full trial is not expected to begin before late 2026, given the complexity of the case and the need to secure witness testimony across multiple jurisdictions.
The proceedings come amid renewed scrutiny of Libyan suspects wanted by the Court. Earlier this year, Italian authorities detained another ICC-listed Libyan, Osama Al-Masri Najim, but subsequently returned him to Tripoli, citing errors in the arrest warrant. The move triggered political controversy in Rome and prompted a legal inquiry into the government’s handling of the case, before parliament later voted to halt the investigation.
