On 18 February, the Italian newspaper Avvenire reported that there is an investigation underway in Italy against two key Libyan human smugglers – Abdurrahman al-Milad (aka al-Bija) and his cousin Osama al-Khuni. The investigation has been carried out by the Agrigento prosecutor’s office which has collected ‘hundreds of testimonies and testimonies’ that link the two men not only to crimes of human trafficking of people but also the smuggling of fuel, weapons and drugs.
According to Avvenire, the investigation linked Milad and al-Khuni to three torturers which had been arrested in Sicily and sentenced to 20 years in prison each. The Italian prosecution affirmed that the three defendants worked in the service of Milad and Osama al-Kuni and carried out extreme torture, to the point of causing the death of the refugees.