The Italian judiciary does not recognize the "Secret State" posed by all the Presidents of the Councils Italian, and ordered the heads of the Italian Military Intelligence, but also people from the CIA and U.S. Intelligence, and in the function of "Combating International Terrorism" have "arrested" the terrorist Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, also known as Abu Omar.
Abu Omar case
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| Terrorist Abu Omar |
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| Italian Intelligence agency (SISMI) chief Nicolo Pollari in 2006. |
An American former CIA station chief was this month sentenced in absentia to seven years in jail after imam Abu Omar was snatched from a Milan street in 2003 and flown to Egypt for interrogation during the United States' "war on terror."
The Milan appeals court sentenced Niccolo Pollari, former head of the Sismi military intelligence agency, to 10 years in prison and his former deputy Marco Mancini to nine years.
The court also awarded a provisional 1 million euros ($1.3 million) in damages to the imam, the Ansa news wire reported, as well as 500,000 euros to the imam's wife.
Nicola Madia, a lawyer for Pollari, said he was disturbed by the decision and that his client would appeal to Italy's highest court. Pollari will not have to go to jail until the appeals process has been exhausted.
Madia said Pollari had not been able to defend himself properly because successive Italian governments had declared the case to be covered by state secrecy laws.
The sentences are part of the fallout from a campaign waged by then President George W. Bush after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
Abu Omar says he was tortured for seven months after being flown to Egypt in what was known as an "extraordinary rendition" operation. He was a resident in Italy at the time of his abduction.
Former CIA Rome station chief Jeffrey Castelli and two other American officials were convicted in their absence by the Milan appeals court for their part in the operation but are unlikely to serve their sentences.
Font: By Sara Rossi, Keith Weir and Kevin Liffey, Reuters
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| Terrorist Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, also known as Abu Omar |
Milan Appeals Court Convicts 2 Italian Spy Chiefs
MILAN February 12, 2013 (AP)
A Milan appeals court on Tuesday convicted two former Italian spy chiefs for their role in the kidnapping of a terror suspect as part of the CIA's extraordinary rendition program.
The court overturned the acquittals of a lower court and sentenced Nicolo Pollari, the former head of Italian military intelligence, to 10 years, and Marco Mancini, a former deputy and head of counterintelligence, to nine. Three other Italian agents also were convicted and handed six-year sentences. All the convictions can be appealed.
Earlier this month, another Italian appeals court vacated the acquittals and convicted in absentia three Americans, including the former Rome CIA station chief, in the same case. A lower court had acquitted them due to diplomatic immunity.
In all, 26 Americans, most CIA agents, have been convicted in absentia in the 2003 kidnapping of Egyptian Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, with sentences ranging from six to nine years. It is unlikely any will serve time. U.S. officials have never commented on the case.
Italian officials and its secret services have insisted they were neither aware of nor participated in the kidnapping of Nasr, an Egyptian cleric who was transferred to two U.S. bases in Europe before being flown to Egypt where he alleges he was tortured. He has since been released without charge and reportedly remains in Egypt. At the time of his abduction, prosecutors in Milan were investigating Nasr on terrorism-related charges.
Despite acquitting Pollari and Mancini, the lower court judge wrote in his reasoning that it was likely that Italy's military intelligence agency was "aware of" or perhaps even "complicit" in the CIA-led kidnapping. However, the court said it was impossible to convict them because of state secrets restrictions imposed by successive Italian governments and confirmed by Italy's highest court. The government's action blocked any evidence relating to contact with agents from other countries.
Pollari's lawyer, Nicola Madia, said he plans to appeal Tuesday's appeals court conviction. Pollari's legal team has long argued that it has not been able to properly defend him because of constraints placed by the government to protect state secrets.
The Italian trials are the first in the world to assign responsibility in a case involving the CIA's practice of abducting terror suspects and transferring them to third countries that permitted torture.
The original trial finished in November 2009, with guilty verdicts against 23 Americans and acquittals of the Italians and three American diplomats. It spawned three appeal court cases.
font: By COLLEEN BARRY Associated Press
Milan appeals court convicts 2 Italian spy chiefs.
MILAN (AP) — A Milan appeals court has convicted two former Italian spy chiefs for their role in the kidnapping of a terror suspect as part of the CIA’s extraordinary rendition program.
The court overturned the acquittals given by a lower court and sentenced the former head of Italian military intelligence to 10 years and his former no. 2 to nine. The convictions can be appealed.
Earlier this month, another appeals court similarly threw out the acquittals and convicted in absentia three Americans, including the former Rome CIA station chief, in the same case.
In all, 26 Americans have been convicted in absentia in the 2003 kidnapping of Egyptian Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, with sentences ranging from six to nine years. It is unlikely any will serve time.
Milan appeals court convicts 2 Italian spy chiefs
MILAN (AP) - A Milan appeals court on Tuesday convicted two former Italian spy chiefs for their role in the kidnapping of a terror suspect as part of the CIA's extraordinary rendition program.
The court overturned the acquittals of a lower court and sentenced Nicolo Pollari, the former head of Italian military intelligence, to 10 years, and Marco Mancini, a former deputy and head of counterintelligence, to nine. Three other Italian agents also were convicted and handed six-year sentences. All the convictions can be appealed.
Earlier this month, another Italian appeals court vacated the acquittals and convicted in absentia three Americans, including the former Rome CIA station chief, in the same case. A lower court had acquitted them due to diplomatic immunity.
In all, 26 Americans, most CIA agents, have been convicted in absentia in the 2003 kidnapping of Egyptian Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, with sentences ranging from six to nine years. It is unlikely any will serve time. U.S. officials have never commented on the case.
Italian officials and its secret services have insisted they were neither aware of nor participated in the kidnapping of Nasr, an Egyptian cleric who was transferred to two U.S. bases in Europe before being flown to Egypt where he alleges he was tortured. He has since been released without charge and reportedly remains in Egypt. At the time of his abduction, prosecutors in Milan were investigating Nasr on terrorism-related charges.
Despite acquitting Pollari and Mancini, the lower court judge wrote in his reasoning that it was likely that Italy's military intelligence agency was "aware of" or perhaps even "complicit" in the CIA-led kidnapping. However, the court said it was impossible to convict them because of state secrets restrictions imposed by successive Italian governments and confirmed by Italy's highest court. The government's action blocked any evidence relating to contact with agents from other countries.
Pollari's lawyer, Nicola Madia, said he plans to appeal Tuesday's appeals court conviction. Pollari's legal team has long argued that it has not been able to properly defend him because of constraints placed by the government to protect state secrets.
The Italian trials are the first in the world to assign responsibility in a case involving the CIA's practice of abducting terror suspects and transferring them to third countries that permitted torture. The original trial finished in November 2009, with guilty verdicts against 23 Americans and acquittals of the Italians and three American diplomats. It spawned three appeal court cases.
Font: Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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