Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Italy was a sovereign State and was free to make its own decisions in its territory after the International Criminal Court (ICC) asked Rome to explain the release of Libyan police chief Njeem Osama Almasri Habish.
Almasri is wanted on war crimes charges by The Hague-based ICC and was detained in Turin at the weekend but he was freed and flown back to Libya Tuesday after an apparent technical issue with his case.
"The Hague is not the Gospel. It's not the Mouth of Truth," Tajani told reporters.
"It's possible to have different opinions.
"Italy is not in check by anyone. We are a sovereign country and we carry out our policy".
Almasri Habish, the director of Tripoli's Mitiga detention centre, was arrested on an ICC warrant regarding, in particular, the alleged abuse of migrants at the detention centre where human rights' groups say people are arbitrarily held, tortured and raped.
The Libyan judicial police commander faced a potential life term over "war crimes and crimes against humanity", according to judicial sources.
The Hague-based court issued a statement reminding Italy that it is obliged to "cooperate fully" with its prosecutions and said it was still awaiting information about Rome's actions.
Italy's opposition factions have accused the government of having freed a "torturer".
Former Premier Matteo Renzi, now head of the Italia Viva party, accused the right-wing government of hypocrisy given its repeated claims of cracking down on human traffickers.
"But when a trafficker whom the International Criminal Court tells us is a dangerous criminal lands on your table, it's not like you chase him down. You brought him home to Libya with a plane of the Italian secret services," he said.
A European Commission spokesman said the case was a matter for Italy and the ICC.
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