On 3 April 2025, the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC applied for an arrest warrant against Mr El Hishri for crimes against humanity and war crimes. ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I (“the Chamber”) assessed the material submitted by the Prosecution and found reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Hishri is individually responsible for having committed directly himself, ordered or overseen crimes against humanity and war crimes, including murder, torture, rape and sexual violence, allegedly committed in Libya from February 2015 to early 2020.
The warrant of arrest against Mr El Hishri was issued under seal by the Chamber on 10 July 2025 and reclassified as “Public” on 31 July 2025. On 1 December 2025, Mr El Hishri was surrendered to the International Criminal Court after being arrested on 16 July 2025 by the authorities of the Federal Republic of Germany pursuant to the warrant of arrest.
The initial appearance of Mr El Hishri took place on 3 December 2025 before Pre-Trial Chamber I. The hearing was held in the presence of the Office of the Prosecutor and the Defence. Mr El Hishri was represented during the hearing by Mr Yasser Mohamed Ahmed Hassan.
The confirmation of charges hearing took place from 19 to 21 May 2026. Over the course of three days, the judges heard oral submissions from the Prosecutor, the Common Legal Representatives of the Victims and the Defence.
On 16 July 2026, Pre-Trial Chamber I unanimously confirmed all charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes brought by the Prosecutor against Khaled Mohamed Ali El Hishri and committed him to trial before a Trial Chamber.
On 20 July 2026, the ICC Presidency constituted Trial Chamber VII, which will be in charge of the case.
Next steps: Trial Chamber VII will hold status conferences, confer with the parties and participants in order to set the date of the trial and adopt the procedures necessary to facilitate the fair and expeditious conduct of the proceedings.
The Defence and the Prosecution are not automatically entitled to appeal this decision but they can request authorisation from the Pre-Trial Chamber to do so.
Questions and Answers on the confirmation of charges in the El Hishri case: English; Arabic
