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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings & Torture |
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August 27th,
2009 - US Will Pay for Lawyer in Italian Kidnapping Trial |
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US Will Pay
for Lawyer in Italian Kidnapping Trial By Nedra Pickler Associated Press August 27, 2009 Washington - The Justice
Department has agreed to pay for a lawyer to help a former State Department
official fight Italian charges that she participated in the alleged CIA
kidnapping of a suspected terrorist in 2003. But the approval of her
long-standing request came as her trial - in absentia - has nearly finished,
and she didn't get the diplomatic immunity she also seeks. Sabrina De Sousa claims she
was a foreign service officer working in Milan and was not involved in
seizing Muslim cleric Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr, also known as Abu Omar. She
is one of 26 U.S. government officials and seven Italians charged with
involvement in Nasr's alleged kidnapping. All the Americans are being
prosecuted by Italy in absentia in the first trial in any country involving
the CIA's extraordinary renditions program. Italian prosecutors say De
Sousa, a 53-year-old native of India, was a CIA officer working under
diplomatic cover and was one of four main U.S. officials responsible for
coordinating Nasr's capture from a Milan street in broad daylight on Feb. 17,
2003. Prosecutors say he was then
transported in a van to the Aviano Air Base, flown to Ramstein Air Base in
southern Germany and then to his home country of Egypt, where he was held and
allegedly tortured. He has since been released. Of the 26 American
defendants, De Sousa is only the second to receive U.S.-funded legal
assistance. But her U.S. attorney, Mark Zaid, says it appears that none have
received diplomatic immunity. Zaid said U.S. officials
have neither waived or invoked immunity in the case, but have officially
ignored the prosecution. International law professor
Michael P. Scharf of Case Western Reserve University said diplomats below the
level of ambassador are only given immunity for official activities. The U.S.
government has never acknowledged any participation in Nasr's alleged
kidnapping. De Sousa denies that she
worked for the CIA and says that at the time of the incident she was
vacationing at a ski resort nearly 130 miles away in Madonna di Campiglio,
Italy. Last May, she sued in federal court in Washington to try to force the
State Department to give her diplomatic immunity and government-funded legal
counsel in Italy - a request she said she'd been making since 2006 without a
response from either former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice or the
current secretary, Hillary Rodham Clinton. In a brief letter sent to
Zaid Wednesday, the Justice Department said it was granting her request to
pay fees for the attorney of her choosing to represent her in the Italian
trial. "Ms. De Sousa should
also be informed that this approval is limited to the provision of legal
representation only and the Department of Justice cannot indemnify her for
any fine or other monetary judgment that may be rendered against her in this
matter," wrote Robert Hollis, director of the Justice Department's
office of foreign litigation. "This does not, of course, preclude
another agency from providing indemnity based upon its authority to do so
should that be necessary or appropriate." Zaid said the approval comes
too late in the proceedings and De Sousa would continue her lawsuit against
the State Department in pursuit of immunity. "What is she supposed
to do at this stage?" Zaid said. "It's a little bit coming late to
the table. She was charged in 2006. She was asking for representation the
entire way through." The Italian trial continues
Sept. 23, when closing arguments are expected to begin. A verdict is expected
before Christmas. All the American defendants
are considered fugitives by Italy, and most, including De Sousa, are
represented by court-appointed lawyers who have had no contact with the
defendants. The State Department has refused to comment on the case in Italy
or De Sousa's lawsuit. It was not immediately clear
what impact DeSousa's addition of her own lawyer would have at this late
stage. De Sousa's court-appointed lawyer, Matilde Sansalone, told The
Associated Press in an interview that no new evidence could be submitted and
that a new lawyer would be limited to making the case in closing arguments
based on the thousands of documents already compiled in the case. Sansalone said she would
cooperate with any lawyer De Sousa hired. Zaid said she hadn't yet decided
who that would be. The Defense Department also
allowed Joseph Romano, who was the security chief at the Aviano Air Base, to
retain his own attorney more than a year into the trial. De Sousa resigned her job in
February because of the department's refusal to give her immunity and because
she was denied permission to travel to India to visit her family. She said
she was told that she risks arrest and extradition to Italy if she leaves the
United States. Associated Press reporter
Colleen Barry in Milan and Pamela Hess in Washington contributed to this
report. Copyright © 2009 The
Associated Press. External link: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h0HmqE7igbkDRzD-ROULYUOdM8TAD9ABEV8G0 |