THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AFP) — The International Criminal Court said Wednesday that it had rejected a challenge to the tribunal’s jurisdiction by a former Libyan prison chief accused of killing, torturing and raping detainees.

Khaled Mohamed Ali El Hishri will face 17 charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes between 2014 and 2020 when he was head of the women’s section at the notorious Mitiga prison near Tripoli.

The 48-year-old, who became known as “the angel of death”, is the first Libyan suspect to be handled by the ICC following its inquiry into events in the North African country that was plunged into conflict after the 2011 fall of Muammar Gaddafi.