BREAKING NEWS: Italian court convicts 23 Americans of kidnapping in CIA rendition of Muslim cleric

[spanone]

maybe the world will take care of our criminals

breaking...no link

[Teaser]

1. good. fuck 'em. fuck everyone today.

.

[lapfog_1]

2. "As always Jim, should you be caught the Secretary will disavow..." - n/t

[G_j]

3. i found a FOX news link

but I'll wait for a better one

[ellie]

4. Buh-bye

Enjoy Italian jail you heartless mofo's.

[Ghost in the Machine]

7. The American suspects — are being tried in absentia and are considered fugitives.

The American suspects — all but one identified by prosecutors as CIA agents — are being tried in absentia and are considered fugitives. Their lawyers, most of whom have had no contact with their clients, have entered innocent pleas on their behalf and argued for their acquittals...

The Americans are accused of kidnapping Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, on Feb. 17, 2003, from a street in Milan, then transferring him by van to the Aviano Air Base in northern Italy, where he was put on a plane and taken to Ramstein Air Base in southern Germany. He was then moved to Egypt, where he says he was tortured. He has since been released, but has not been permitted to leave Egypt to attend the trial.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iFK6j...

[Solly Mack]

5. And the CIA's defense? "I was following orders"

"The Americans' defense have argued alternatively that their clients were following orders, that they should be cleared due to diplomatic immunity, or that extraordinary renditions were not illegal under the policies adopted by former U.S. President George W. Bush to combat terrorism.

Lady, quoted in an Italian newspaper this summer, made the latter argument.

"I am not guilty. I am only responsible for following an order I received from my superiors," Lady was quoted as saying by Il Giornale. "It was not a criminal act. It was a state affair."




http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iFK6j...

[Call Me Wesley]

6. It's even more sad

that he was kicked out of the CIA after this and was denied any lawyer help, because the CIA doesn't even acknowledge the case. At least Lady's dream (and he was against the kidnapping plan in the beginning, but then went along with it,) to spend his retirement in the nice Italian villa he bought is shattered. He won't return to Italy, otherwise he'd get arrested. And the villa is confiscated and the money from selling it should support the costs of the court.

Brave Milan Attorney General Armando Spataro!

[Solly Mack]

10. I wish my country had the integrity to ship the guilty off to Italy.

[Call Me Wesley]

12. I was just reading the whole story in the last SPIEGEL.

Too bad the article isn't online (neither German nor English.) What was really telling was the ignorance of the CIA when confronted with the case. One spokesperson even said something like "I didn't know they had General Attorneys that oppose us!"

[Solly Mack]

13. Not ignorance - arrogance. In my opinion anyway

Rice gave the go-ahead for the operation.


I've got the Spiegel story from 2007 bookmarked.

[Call Me Wesley]

14. Yes, arrogance is the better word.

If you have last week's SPIEGEL, there's a really interesting description on how Spataro made his case, because in the beginning, they had nothing. Then they tracked every cellphone down which was used at the event of the kidnapping at the site. Then they had to go through all the records, tracking them even more down, and some software specialists wrote more tracking programs. So they could follow the cellphone traces to Aviano ... And here's where the fun began, since all of the cellphones were anonymous, but they could track them to Venice.

The US agents had a little victory party in the Hotel Danieli (five star luxurious hotels, the most famous in Venice,) so Spataro got track of a few names. He never let go, and after five years, he was ready to make his case.

On edit: Wasn't only three years, it was five years ...

[Solly Mack]

15. The Oct 28 issue? Link inside

http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,65743...

[Call Me Wesley]

16. W00t! Thank you!

I couldn't find that.

[Solly Mack]

17. I had it bookmarked under my Robert Lady file

and was hoping you meant that issue.

[Call Me Wesley]

19. Thanks again!

I'm not sure why I couldn't find it because I would have posted the article when it was available.

[Solly Mack]

23. You're welcome! I looked for it in my Der Spiegel file but it wasn't there

then I had a light bulb moment and looked in my Extraordinary Rendition file, under the sub-file(s) for Italy/CIA/Lady and found it.

I really need better organization.

[barbtries]

18. thank you

fascinating.

[Solly Mack]

20. You're welcome!

[spanone]

24. an insufficient defense

[derby378]

8. Bad news: all were convicted in abstentia

How realistic do you think it is that the Obama administration will scoop up these agents and fly them to Italy to begin serving their sentences?

[ChickMagic]

9. Do we have an extradition treaty with Italy?

If so, Obama may have no choice in the matter.

[Call Me Wesley]

11. Yes, they have.

Still, it's unlikely they will ever see an Italian prison from the inside.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_extr...

[ChickMagic]

22. Rats

I wish they would. I really wish they would. Maybe they can be kidnapped?

[spanone]

25. good news. the world knows.....

[Heidi]

21. Recommended.

[spanone]

26. link

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/05/world/europe/05italy....