26 Americans Face Verdict in CIA Rendition Trial

[Hissyspit]

Source: New York Times

26 Americans Face Verdict in C.I.A. Rendition Trial

By RACHEL DONADIO
Published: November 4, 2009
MILAN — A verdict is expected as soon as Wednesday in a landmark case in which 26 American officials are charged with kidnapping a Muslim cleric from the streets of Milan more than six years ago.

The case is the first of its kind to contest the practice of “extraordinary rendition,” in which terrorism suspects are captured in one country and taken for questioning in another, presumably one more open to coercive interrogation techniques. Widely seen as a referendum on Bush administration foreign policy, the trial remains a sore spot between Italy and the United States.

Italian prosecutors have charged the American officials, all but one of them alleged agents of the Central Intelligence Agency, and 7 members of the Italian military intelligence agency, in the abduction of Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr, known as Abu Omar, on Feb. 17, 2003. Prosecutors say the cleric was snatched in broad daylight, flown from an American air base in Italy to a base in Germany and then on to Egypt, where he claims he was tortured.

Italian counter-terrorism prosecutor Armando Spataro is seeking 13-year jail terms for Jeff Castelli, a former C.I.A. station chief in Rome, and Nicolò Pollari, a former head of Italian military intelligence, for their alleged roles in the abduction. He is seeking 12-year terms for Robert Seldon Lady, who as C.I.A. station chief in Milan is alleged to have coordinated the operation, and Sabrina De Souza, who worked in the Rome embassy and is alleged to have worked closely with Mr. Lady.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/05/world/europe/05italy.html?_r=1

[Hissyspit]

1. More Info:

At the time of his abduction, Mr. Nasr was under surveillance by Italian authorities, who suspected him of delivering sermons preaching violence from his Milan mosque and recruiting militants to send to Iraq in anticipation of the American invasion. He disappeared for a year after his abduction, finally resurfacing in Egypt, where he called his wife in Italy to say he had been tortured.

The phone call was enough to activate Italian prosecutors, who are required to investigate if there is the possibility a of a crime.

Prosecutors were able to reconstruct his disappearance using cell phone records traced to the American agents. The operatives used false names but left a significant paper trail of unencrypted cell phone records and credit card bills at luxury hotels in Milan, suggesting they believed they were operating with latitude.

All of the Americans are being tried in absentia and are considered fugitives. Court appointed lawyers for several of the American defendants claim that prosecutors have never adequately established their clients’ identities.

[dixiegrrrrl]

7. CIA operatives left a broad paper trail????

Interesting, that.

And, I wonder....any higher ups being arrested?

[Soylent Brice]

12. patsies. not innocent, but patsies nonetheless.

[happyslug]

14. No one has been arrested, this trial is occurring WITHOUT the Defendants.

That is permitted under Italian law provided the Defendants know of the trial and decide NOT to defend (Which is the case here, the US has refused to extradite the Defendants).

[myrna minx]

2. Disturbing. K&R n/t

[dkf]

3. It figures that the prosecutions are Italian and not US.

[TexasObserver]

4. Recommend

[Solly Mack]

5. K&R

[Wingmasters]

6. That’s something needed to be consider .

Europe as always way too much a head .

[MetaTrope]

8. When it says they're "facing a verdict" of course

it means somebody in Europe will phone overseas and tell them they read about it in the Guardian.

[tclambert]

9. I am shocked, shocked that CIA agents stayed at luxury hotels.

No cheap motels in Italy, where you can pay cash? Bad fieldcraft and wasteful.

[tclambert]

10. Actually, I'm torn on whether we should support our CIA field agents, or support prosecution

of torturers, kidnappers, and those who aided and abetted. It's the ones who gave the orders (Cheney) who should go to prison. CIA field agents really don't have a lot of leeway to say, "But, sir, that would be illegal." For the CIA to work, we should probably protect the agents. But The Powers That Be certainly won't want to turn over the order-givers to much more well-deserved justice. So we may end up giving up a few low level people as scapegoats. Kinda like Abu Ghraib all over again. A couple of enlisted soldiers went to prison, when we all know the orders came from the White House itself. Cheney practically bragged about approving "extraordinary interrogation" techniques. Will he ever see the inside of an Italian prison?

[arcadian]

11. They could have quit when they realized what they were doing.

Individual responsibility. And the "CIA doesn't work". Covert action to support U.S, imperial and corporate interests, that's all that agency has ever been about. Fuck 'em, let them twist in the wind.

[Piewhacket]

16. torture is illegal. support prosecution.

If the order is plainly illegal on its face
(take this man outside and shoot him - a real case)

"Sir, I respectfully REFUSE to obey that order."

the "respectfully" part is to evade insubordination charges
based on disrespect. An arrest (or firing) on grounds of refusal to
follow orders brings forward the question of whether the order was legal.

If the order was legal, you are toast.

If the order was illegal The lying sob CO will deny he gave such an
order and claim he properly ordered you to peel potatos, and you
called him a name and told him to F& off.

If the CO is believed, you are toast.

ALTERNATIVLY you could

a) do a very f& up job and be fired for your criminal act (attempt),
which the CO will deny ordering.
or

b) you could follow the order and hope no one notices, but if they do
you can claim you reasonably believed the order was lawful and use that
defense to cut a deal to testify against your CO.

No US employee should face such BS.
In the end... its really up to US to PROSECUTE!

[EFerrari]

18. The CIA is hated all over the world, not because it "works" but because

they have been responsible for the disappearance, torture and deaths of many, many people.

[sattahipdeep]

13. And yet

AMY GOODMAN: That was Maher Arar describing his own ordeal before the House Judiciary and Foreign Affairs Subcommittee. I shouldn’t exactly say “before” the committee; he’s not allowed into the United States, so he spoke via video conference, barred from entering this country. I mean, that is a very graphic description, Maria LaHood. What exactly does this mean, that the US government can take someone from US soil, US citizen or otherwise, and send them off to another country that they know engages in torture?

MARIA LAHOOD: Absolutely, and even that if they intend them to be tortured. And it doesn’t have to be a foreign citizen. This decision is broad enough to affect any of us. Basically, if the federal government decides to do something that it purports to be in our national security to do, they could torture any of us, they could kill any of us, and there would be no relief in the federal courts.

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/11/3/appeals_court_rules_in_maher_arar

[Torn_Scorned_Ignored]

15. yep

if the federal government decides to do something that it purports to be in our national security to do, they could torture any of us, they could kill any of us, and there would be no relief in the federal courts.

[seafan]

17. Robert S. Lady: “Of course it was an illegal operation..... We’re at war against terrorism.”

I would bet this guy is in his native Tegucigalpa, Honduras. With all the turmoil there at present, it would be rather simple.






Robert Seldon Lady in hiding, subject to extradition to Italy in Muslim cleric kidnapping, March 20, 2007



Hmmm. Has anyone located Robert Seldon Lady?, June 28, 2009




C.I.A. Rendition Trial Nears Verdict, November 4, 2009

.....

The Italian counterterrorism prosecutor Armando Spataro is seeking 13-year jail terms for Jeff Castelli, a former C.I.A. station chief in Rome, and Nicolò Pollari, a former head of Italian military intelligence, for their suspected roles in the abduction. He is seeking 12-year terms for Robert Seldon Lady, who as C.I.A. station chief in Milan is accused of having coordinated the operation, and Sabrina De Souza, who worked in the United States Embassy in Rome and is accused of having worked closely with Mr. Lady.

.....

At the time of his abduction, Mr. Nasr was under surveillance by the Italian authorities, who suspected him of delivering sermons preaching violence from his Milan mosque and recruiting militants to send to Iraq in anticipation of the American invasion. He disappeared for a year after his abduction, finally resurfacing in Egypt, where he called his wife in Italy to say he had been tortured.

The phone call was enough to activate Italian prosecutors, who are required to investigate if there is the possibility a of a crime.

Prosecutors were able to reconstruct his disappearance using cellphone records traced to the American agents. The operatives used false names but left a significant paper trail of unencrypted cellphone records and credit card bills at luxury hotels in Milan, suggesting they believed they were operating with latitude.

All of the Americans are being tried in absentia and are considered fugitives. Court-appointed lawyers for several of the American defendants claim that prosecutors never adequately established their clients’ identities.

The C.I.A. has declined to comment, and the Italian government has denied involvement.

In June, Il Giornale, a newspaper owned by a brother of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and widely seen as close to the Italian government, published an interview it said it had conducted via Skype with Mr. Lady, who has since retired and whose whereabouts are unknown. In the interview, he said of Abu Omar’s abduction, “Of course it was an illegal operation. But that’s our job. We’re at war against terrorism.”

.....

The Bush Fallout continues.

[Piewhacket]

20. nice post, (seafan strike again!)

Looks like a news article pic.

I notice that "Mister Bob"'s Wikipedia article
doesn't have a picture.

[Piewhacket]

21. Hey, I like these guys at indybay.org thanks for the tip ! (seafan strikes again)

[optimator]

19. Obama should extradite these criminals

since the CIA is part of the executive branch

[Hissyspit]

22. UPDATE: Italian court convicts 23

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4132237