ROME - Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said she and three of her cabinet members have been put under judicial investigation over the recent release and repatriation of a Libyan general who had been accused of war crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Meloni confirmed the inquiry on social media on Tuesday, saying she was suspected by prosecutors of embezzlement and aiding and abetting a crime.

She said that Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, Justice Minister Carlo Nordio, and undersecretary Alfredo Mantovano had also been placed under investigation.

The case relates to Osama Elmasry Njeem, head of the Libyan judicial police and director of detention centers in Libya. He was arrested in Italy on Jan 19 and unexpectedly released two days later and sent back to Libya days later due to "urgent security reasons, because he was considered a dangerous subject," the justice minister said in a recent parliamentary hearing. 

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Njeem was wanted on an arrest warrant issued by the ICC on Jan 18 on charges of alleged war crimes and crime against humanity.