Giorgia Meloni is under intense pressure to explain why Italy released an alleged Libyan general who is wanted for committing war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The Italian prime minister is facing questions from the International Criminal Court, as well as opposition parties, over the detention and sudden release of Osama Almasri Najim, the chief of Libya’s judicial police.

Najim is believed to have been in charge of the Mitiga detention centre near Tripoli and is accused by the ICC of having committed murder, rape, sexual violence and torture against migrants and political dissidents.

After a tip-off from Interpol, he was arrested at the weekend on an ICC warrant in a hotel in Turin, where he had gone to watch a football match between Juventus and Milan.

He was arrested by the Italian authorities on Sunday, but on Tuesday he was released “on a technicality” after an appeals court in Rome said there had been a procedural error in his detention.

Najim was swiftly flown back to Libya on a private jet organised by the Italian government.

He was welcomed back to Tripoli as a hero by his supporters, with video emerging on social media of him being carried on the shoulders of a crowd of chanting, jubilant men.

In a sharp statement, the ICC said Najim was released from custody and transported back to Libya “without prior notice or consultation with the court”.

“The court is seeking, and is yet to obtain, verification from the authorities on the steps reportedly taken.”

The Hague-based court said that as a member of the ICC, Italy was obliged to “cooperate fully” with cases prosecuted by the court and to act on arrest warrants.