By Stephanie van den Berg
THE HAGUE, May 19 (Reuters) - A 47-year-old suspect accused of overseeing one of the most notorious prisons in Libya was known as a ruthless torturer nicknamed "the angel of death" by detainees, prosecutors told judges at the International Criminal Court on Tuesday.
Prosecutors allege Al Hishri oversaw the women's wing in Mitiga, a detention centre run by the Special Deterrence Force - known as Rada in Libya. Thousands of victims were unlawfully arrested and kept without legal basis, held in inhumane conditions and systematically abused and tortured, according to prosecutors.
"Khaled (Mohamed Ali) Al Hishri was widely known as a notorious torturer at the helm of Mitiga prison," deputy prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan said at the start of three days of hearings set to determine the exact charges to be brought.
Prosecutors said Al Hishri personally abused and tortured inmates and raped them as part of a pattern of sexualised torture. They asked judges to confirm 17 counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes including murder, rape, persecution and enslavement dating from February 2015 until early 2020.
Yasser Hassan, a lawyer for Al Hishri, told judges on Tuesday that his client denied the charges, without giving details, and argued that the court lacked jurisdiction in the case.
The hearings are set to close on Thursday and judges will have 60 days to issue a ruling. If the court confirms the charges, Al Hishri's case could become the first ICC trial focused on Libya.
Al Hishri was arrested in Germany in July last year.
The ICC has been looking into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Libya since such cases were referred to the court by the U.N. Security Council in 2011, the year of a NATO-backed uprising in the country.
In January 2025 Italy briefly arrested another ICC suspect also linked to the Mitiga prison, but he was released and returned to Libya, sparking condemnation.
(Reporting by Stephanie van den Berg; Editing by Alexandra Hudson, Aidan Lewis)
