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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings & Torture |
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March 11th,
2009 - Italy’s High Court Sinks CIA Rendition Case |
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Italy’s High Court
Sinks CIA Rendition Case By Ariel David Associated Press March 11, 2009 Rome - Italy's highest court
on Wednesday dealt a potentially fatal blow to the trial against 26 Americans
accused of involvement in the alleged CIA kidnapping of an Egyptian terror
suspect in Milan in 2003. The Constitutional Court
sided with the Italian government in saying that prosecutors used classified
information to build the case and threw out some key evidence on which the
indictments were based. Though the judges did not
formally throw out the indictments, lawyers said the ruling would at least
set the case back. State lawyer Massimo
Giannuzzi said prosecutors would have to seek new indictments based on the
remaining evidence or reopen the investigation altogether. "We are quite
satisfied," Giannuzzi said. "There will have to be a new preliminary
hearing to decide if the remaining evidence is enough for new charges." The American suspects - all
but one identified by prosecutors as CIA agents - were accused along with
seven Italian agents of kidnapping an Egyptian terror suspect from a Milan
street on Feb. 17, 2003, in an "extraordinary rendition" operation
coordinated by the CIA and Italy's SISMI military intelligence. Prosecutors say Osama
Moustafa Hassan Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, was then transferred to U.S.
bases in Italy and Germany before being moved to Egypt, where he was
imprisoned for four years. Nasr, who has been released, said he was tortured. The Italian government
denies any role in the operation, while the CIA has declined to comment on
the case. The trial in Milan was suspended
pending the Constitutional Court's ruling, which had been delayed several
times. When the trial resumes,
Judge Oscar Magi must turn over evidence deemed classified, notably files of
thousands of dossiers on prominent public figures seized from the Rome
apartment of a SISMI agent, Pio Pompa. Also thrown out is testimony
by Luciano Peroni, an intelligence officer allegedly at the scene of the
kidnapping. Wednesday's ruling was
"a victory for the state attorney," said Alessia Sorgato, a lawyer
defending several of the Americans, noting that Peroni's testimony had been
"fundamental" to the prosecution's case. However, most of the
stricken evidence pertained to the Italian defendants, and Sorgato said it
was still possible that the case against the Americans could continue. She said the picture may
become clearer once the court gives its reasoning on the decision, which may
take weeks. Giannuzzi noted the high
court had not thrown out telephone intercepts of the suspects, as the
government had requested, leaving them available as evidence in the case. Prosecutors did not answer
phone calls seeking comment. Associated Press Writer
Colleen Barry contributed to this report from Milan. Copyright © 2009 The
Associated Press. External link: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iM_YyWi9inE9T_InTSAg1w3qlraAD96S2G9G4 Italy’s high
court deals blow to CIA kidnap trial From Reuters March 11, 2009 Rome - Italy's highest court ruled on Wednesday
that prosecutors broke state secrecy laws when building their case against
U.S. and Italian intelligence agents accused of kidnapping a terrorism
suspect. But it was not immediately
clear whether the Constitutional Court's ruling would force a lower court
judge to shelve the criminal trial against 26 Americans and seven Italians
when proceedings resume on March 18. Prosecutors say a CIA-led
team abducted a Muslim imam off the streets of Milan and flew him to Egypt in
2003. Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, says he was tortured
under interrogation there and held for years without charge. Italian Prime Minister
Silvio Berlusconi, who was in power at the time of Nasr's disappearance, has
long challenged the trial, arguing that if state secrets come out in open
court the global intelligence community could ostracize Italy. The Italian state appealed
to the high court on state secrecy grounds, and appeared to have won, at
least partially. In its one-page statement
the Constitutional Court said prosecutors wrongly used classified materials
to get to the trial phase. Lawyers involved with the case
had previously said such a ruling could deal a knock-out blow to the criminal
proceedings, since indictments were at least partly based on those materials. But the Constitutional Court
did not explicitly annul the trial and it also did not appear to uphold all
of the Italian state's arguments. Human rights groups have
accused the United States of breaking international law and "outsourcing
torture" by secretly transferring alleged militants to foreign states in
operations known as renditions. Washington denies the
torture charge but has defended renditions as a valid counter-terrorism tool
that has produced vital intelligence. Italy has denied any state
role in Nasr's disappearance. Reporting by Phil Stewart. © Thomson Reuters 2008. All
rights reserved. External link: http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSTRE52A6RK20090311 |