Italy attempts to block CIA kidnap trial
MrBrian
Posts: 2,672
Thu Mar 15, 5:48 PM ET
ROME (Reuters) - The Italian government on Thursday made its second attempt to block a court case against U.S. CIA agents accused of kidnapping a Muslim cleric and flying him to Egypt, where he says he was tortured.
Last month a Milan judge ordered 26 Americans, most of them believed to be CIA agents, to stand trial along with Italian spies for kidnapping terrorism suspect Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, from a Milan street in February 2003.
The Italian government has already challenged the Milan prosecutors in Italy's constitutional court for breaking state secrecy rules in the course of its investigation.
Abu Omar, of Egyptian nationality and resident in Italy, was abducted from a street in Milan four years ago and sent to Egypt as part of the US-led rendition program. On arrival in Egypt Abu Omar was immediately detained and allegedly subjected to torture; he has recently been released without charge. A Milan court issued extradition requests in July 2006 and indictments against the 26 US suspects in February 2007.
The case, which is due to come to court on June 8, would be the first criminal case over "renditions" -- one of the most controversial aspects of U.S. President George W. Bush's war on terrorism.
The trial against the U.S. citizens would almost certainly be held in absentia, since Washington has already said it will reject any request by Italy to extradite them.
Prosecutors say a U.S. Central Intelligence Agency-led team, with the help of Italy's military intelligence agency, SISMI, bundled Nasr into a van and drove him to a military base in northern Italy.
From there, prosecutors say the CIA flew him via Germany to Egypt where he says he was tortured with electric shocks, beatings, rape threats and genital abuse.
http://www.amnestyusa.org/news/document.do?id=ENGUSA20070314002
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070315/wl_nm/italy_usa_kidnap_dc_1
ROME (Reuters) - The Italian government on Thursday made its second attempt to block a court case against U.S. CIA agents accused of kidnapping a Muslim cleric and flying him to Egypt, where he says he was tortured.
Last month a Milan judge ordered 26 Americans, most of them believed to be CIA agents, to stand trial along with Italian spies for kidnapping terrorism suspect Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, from a Milan street in February 2003.
The Italian government has already challenged the Milan prosecutors in Italy's constitutional court for breaking state secrecy rules in the course of its investigation.
Abu Omar, of Egyptian nationality and resident in Italy, was abducted from a street in Milan four years ago and sent to Egypt as part of the US-led rendition program. On arrival in Egypt Abu Omar was immediately detained and allegedly subjected to torture; he has recently been released without charge. A Milan court issued extradition requests in July 2006 and indictments against the 26 US suspects in February 2007.
The case, which is due to come to court on June 8, would be the first criminal case over "renditions" -- one of the most controversial aspects of U.S. President George W. Bush's war on terrorism.
The trial against the U.S. citizens would almost certainly be held in absentia, since Washington has already said it will reject any request by Italy to extradite them.
Prosecutors say a U.S. Central Intelligence Agency-led team, with the help of Italy's military intelligence agency, SISMI, bundled Nasr into a van and drove him to a military base in northern Italy.
From there, prosecutors say the CIA flew him via Germany to Egypt where he says he was tortured with electric shocks, beatings, rape threats and genital abuse.
http://www.amnestyusa.org/news/document.do?id=ENGUSA20070314002
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070315/wl_nm/italy_usa_kidnap_dc_1
0