CAIRO – An Italian judge has convicted 23 CIA agents for the kidnapping and torturing of a Muslim scholar, in the first criminal prosecution of the controversial US practice of rendition, reported the Washington Post on Thursday, November 5. "This decision sends a clear message to all governments that even in the fight against terrorism you can't forsake the basic rights of our democracies," Milan deputy public prosecutor Armando Spataro said.
Judge Oscar Magi sentenced 22 CIA agents to five years in prison for kidnapping Egyptian scholar Hassan Osama Nasr from Italy in 2003 and sent him to Cairo where he was tortured.
The court also slapped an eight-year jail sentence on the CIA’s Milan station chief at the time, Robert Seldon Lady.
Two Italian secret agents were also given three-year prison terms over the kidnapping.
Three other Americans, including former Rome station chief for the CIA, were acquitted over their diplomatic immunity.
Nasr, the former imam of a Milan mosque, was abducted as he was walking from home to mosque and bundled into a white van.
He was then moved to the US military base at Aviano in northern Italy, and from there to an Egyptian jail, where he was repeatedly tortured.
Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, had political refugee status in Italy at the time of his abduction.
The ruling is the first criminal prosecution of the US "renditions", one of the most infamous controversial aspects of President George W. Bush's "war on terrorism".
The CIA has long kept details of rendition program, which allows the transfer of suspects to third countries without court approval, a closely guarded secret.
Since 9/11, the CIA has rendered more than 100 people from one country to another, usually with well-documented records of abuse, without legal proceedings.
Bush has strongly defended such transfers as "vital to the nation's defense."
The Obama administration has said it would continue the practice, but pledged to take steps to ensure that rendition targets are not tortured.
Victory
CIA agents blasted the US government following their conviction. "I am saddened, dismayed and angered that the government I served abandoned me completely,” Sabrina De Sousa, formerly a second secretary at the US Embassy in Rome, said in an e-mail.
"We are paying for the mistakes right now, whoever authorized and approved this," added Sabrina, who was convicted to five years in prison.
US authorities criticized the verdict, saying Italian courts have no jurisdiction to rule on the case.
"Our view is the Italian court has no jurisdiction over Lieutenant Colonel (Joseph) Romano and should have immediately dismissed the charges," said Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell.
"Now that they have not, we will, of course, explore what options we have going forward."
The CIA declined to comment.
"The CIA has not commented on any of the allegations surrounding Abu Omar," said spokesman George Little.
The trial of the CIA agents was delayed as successive Italian governments sought to have it thrown out as a threat to national security.
The landmark ruling drew praise from human rights groups.
"The Italian government was found responsible for collaborating with the CIA,” Joanne Mariner of Human Rights Watch told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“It was a brave ruling for an Italian court."
Source: IslamOnline
Judge Oscar Magi sentenced 22 CIA agents to five years in prison for kidnapping Egyptian scholar Hassan Osama Nasr from Italy in 2003 and sent him to Cairo where he was tortured.
The court also slapped an eight-year jail sentence on the CIA’s Milan station chief at the time, Robert Seldon Lady.
Two Italian secret agents were also given three-year prison terms over the kidnapping.
Three other Americans, including former Rome station chief for the CIA, were acquitted over their diplomatic immunity.
Nasr, the former imam of a Milan mosque, was abducted as he was walking from home to mosque and bundled into a white van.
He was then moved to the US military base at Aviano in northern Italy, and from there to an Egyptian jail, where he was repeatedly tortured.
Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, had political refugee status in Italy at the time of his abduction.
The ruling is the first criminal prosecution of the US "renditions", one of the most infamous controversial aspects of President George W. Bush's "war on terrorism".
The CIA has long kept details of rendition program, which allows the transfer of suspects to third countries without court approval, a closely guarded secret.
Since 9/11, the CIA has rendered more than 100 people from one country to another, usually with well-documented records of abuse, without legal proceedings.
Bush has strongly defended such transfers as "vital to the nation's defense."
The Obama administration has said it would continue the practice, but pledged to take steps to ensure that rendition targets are not tortured.
Victory
CIA agents blasted the US government following their conviction. "I am saddened, dismayed and angered that the government I served abandoned me completely,” Sabrina De Sousa, formerly a second secretary at the US Embassy in Rome, said in an e-mail.
"We are paying for the mistakes right now, whoever authorized and approved this," added Sabrina, who was convicted to five years in prison.
US authorities criticized the verdict, saying Italian courts have no jurisdiction to rule on the case.
"Our view is the Italian court has no jurisdiction over Lieutenant Colonel (Joseph) Romano and should have immediately dismissed the charges," said Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell.
"Now that they have not, we will, of course, explore what options we have going forward."
The CIA declined to comment.
"The CIA has not commented on any of the allegations surrounding Abu Omar," said spokesman George Little.
The trial of the CIA agents was delayed as successive Italian governments sought to have it thrown out as a threat to national security.
The landmark ruling drew praise from human rights groups.
"The Italian government was found responsible for collaborating with the CIA,” Joanne Mariner of Human Rights Watch told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“It was a brave ruling for an Italian court."
Source: IslamOnline
| Home | Daily News | We Are On... |
