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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings & Torture |
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April 22nd,
2009 - Italian Judge to Rule in May on CIA Trial |
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Italian Judge to Rule in May
on CIA Trial By Colleen Barry Associated Press April 22, 2009 Milan - A judge will decide
next month whether to continue with the politically sensitive trial of 26
Americans and seven Italians accused in the alleged kidnapping of an Egyptian
terror suspect after the high court threw out key evidence deemed classified. Defense lawyers for the
Americans - mostly CIA agents - and Italians argued Wednesday the exclusion
of the evidence made it impossible to continue with the trial. The
prosecution argued the indictments were still valid and the trial should go
on. Judge Oscar Magi said he
would announce his decision May 20. The viability of the
two-year-old trial has been hanging on the Italian Constitutional Court's
ruling, issued in full earlier this month, on which evidence pertaining to
the alleged CIA-run kidnapping as part of its renditions program is
considered classified, and therefore inadmissible. The high court's ruling
threw out key testimony from Luciano Peroni, an intelligence agent who
acknowledged being present on Feb. 17, 2003 when Egyptian cleric Osama
Moustafa Hassan Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, was taken from a Milan street
in broad daylight. Prosecutors say he was then
transported in a van to the Aviano Air Force base, from where he was flown to
the Ramstein Air Base in southern Germany, then onward to Egypt, where he was
held and allegedly tortured. He has since been released. The Constitutional Court
also threw out any evidence that would reveal the workings between the CIA
and Italian intelligence agents, who are among the defendants. Defense lawyers for both the
American and Italian defendants requested their clients be cleared -
something not technically possible at this stage. In one case, the defense for
Nicolo Pollari, the former head of the military intelligence, said he needed
access to classified information to prove his client had no involvement in
the kidnapping. Prosecutor Armando Spataro
argued the indictments "maintained their integrity," even without
the excluded evidence. He noted that the case against the Americans began at
least a year before the Italians were investigated, meaning that any evidence
pertaining to the Italian secret services that is seen as classified was not
used to build the case against the Americans. Prosecutors have also said that
state secrets cannot apply to illegal operations, such as kidnapping. "Just at the moment in
which the United State is lifting the veil on its secrets regarding illegal
practices in the fight against terrorism with statements from President
Barack Obama, here information protected as classified is being expanded
excessively," Spataro told the court. Magi could decide to
continue the case, throw out the indictments - which would send the case back
to the preliminary hearing stage - or rule the trial can't go on if he views
the remaining evidence as insufficient. Defense lawyer Alessia
Sorgato, who is defending three American clients, said he could also decide
to continue the trial for the American defendants while stopping it for the
Italians, on the basis that classified information applied only to the
Italian secret services. Sorgato said a decision to
simply end the trial "would be the worst decision possible. It would
mean not guilty and not innocent. Simply, 'I don't have enough evidence.'" The CIA has refused to
comment on the trial, and the Americans are being tried in absentia. The
defense lawyers for the Americans have acted without any contact with their
clients. Italy's government has
denied any involvement in the kidnapping. The trial has proved an
embarrassment to both conservative and left-leaning Italian governments, with
both Premier Silvio Berlusconi and his predecessor Romano Prodi having warned
that testimony in the case could compromise operations between Italian spy
services and the CIA. Copyright © 2009 The
Associated Press. External link: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iFK6jJ12W23VZD-Hsw_RZIo67JnwD97NKRIO1 Italian judge
asked to toss out CIA kidnap trial By Phil Stewart Reuters April 22, 2009 Rome - Lawyers representing
CIA agents accused in Italy of kidnapping a terrorism suspect asked a judge
to toss out the trial on Tuesday, after a higher court ruled some evidence
used to help win their indictments was classified. Judge Oscar Magi adjourned
the proceedings until May 20 to consider the requests, which could abruptly
end the most high-profile case in Europe into secret transfers of a terrorism
suspect, known as "renditions." Twenty-six Americans, almost
all believed to be working for the CIA, are accused along with Italian spies
of abducting Muslim cleric Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr in Milan in 2003 and
flying him to Egypt. There, Nasr, who is also
known as Abu Omar, says he was tortured under questioning and held for years
without charges. "All of the attorneys
for the American suspects joined the request for an acquittal, or at least
the annulment of the indictments," said Arianna Barbazza, a
court-appointed attorney for suspects including the former CIA station chief
in Milan. Lawyers for the Italian
spies, including the former head of military intelligence agency SISMI,
Nicolo Pollari, also requested the judge throw out the case. The challenge to the Milan
trial comes amid raging debate in the United States about harsh interrogation
techniques used on terrorism suspects under the George W. Bush administration
and whether to prosecute officials responsible for those policies. Pressure is building in the
U.S. Congress for a full-blown investigation after U.S. President Barack Obama
released memos detailing waterboarding, sleep deprivation and other methods
viewed by opponents as torture. "We're in a Kafkaesque
situation. The world changes. In the United States, secrets are
revealed," said prosecutor Armando Spataro, commenting on defense
requests to dismiss the case. He urged Magi to allow the
trial to continue, arguing there was sufficient evidence for convictions --
even excluding materials now deemed classified by the Constitutional Court. Still, the court ruled that
evidence about relations between Italy and CIA is off-limits, stripping key
testimony from the record that was used to help win indictments. Obama opposes prosecuting
CIA interrogators who used waterboarding or other harsh methods on terrorism
suspects and his administration has said it would shield them from "any
international or foreign tribunal." In Italy, all of the
Americans are being tried in absentia and are represented by state-appointed
attorneys. The former CIA station chief in Milan had his Italian villa seized
by a magistrate to cover court costs. The Obama administration has
said rendition is still permitted but would be subject to assurances that
suspects would be treated humanely. In the Milan case, Nasr says
he was subjected to electric shock, beatings and rape threats. The
Egyptian-born imam, who was released from Egyptian custody in 2007, faces an
arrest warrant in Italy on suspicion of terrorist activity. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi,
while denying any Italian role in Nasr's disappearance, has argued that the
case risked ostracizing Italy from the global intelligence community by
revealing secrets in open court on cooperation with the CIA. Editing by Richard
Balmforth. © Thomson Reuters 2009. All
rights reserved. External link: http://uk.reuters.com/article/usTopNews/idUKTRE53L4V520090422 |