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Italy Orders Trial for CIA Agents in Kidnapping Case

By Jeralyn, Section Terror Detainees
Posted on Fri Feb 16, 2007 at 11:52:16 AM EST
Tags: Ghost Air, Secret Prisons, CIA (all tags)
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A judge in Italy has ordered 26 people, most of them CIA agents, to stand trial on kidnapping charges. In 2003, Egyptian cleric Osama Mustafa Hassan was kidnapped in Italy and flown to an Egyptian prison where he alleges he was tortured.

Now the question is, will Italy seek extradition of the CIA agents from the U.S.

Lawyers say they have compiled thousands of pages of documents and testimony from Italian agents past and present, some of whom have acknowledged working with the US in planning the abduction. The trial is due to begin on 8 June.

Here's more on Ghost Air.

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    Italy Orders Trial for CIA Agents in Kidnapping Case | 19 comments (19 topical)

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    would i be safe to assume... (none / 0) (#1)
    by Deconstructionist on Fri Feb 16, 2007 at 12:06:47 PM EST
      your attitude about this case mirrors your attitude about the Dog  matter? An apology and a charitable contribution ought to be sufficient, don't you agree.

    you beat me to it (none / 0) (#2)
    by HeadScratcher on Fri Feb 16, 2007 at 12:07:43 PM EST
    Yeah...If Dog had done the kidnapping then it wouldn't have been a big deal?

    Finally.... (none / 0) (#3)
    by kdog on Fri Feb 16, 2007 at 12:25:19 PM EST
    a real chance to make the world safer by bringing some kidnappers to justice.

    Good luck Italia!

    Pull out (none / 0) (#4)
    by jimakaPPJ on Fri Feb 16, 2007 at 12:37:23 PM EST
    Maybe we should just pull our militaty out of Italy and Sicily...

    And make sure the Italian people know why.

    Parent

    Thats a great idea. (none / 0) (#5)
    by Peaches on Fri Feb 16, 2007 at 12:39:08 PM EST
    You're on a roll Jim, Don't stop.

    Where else should we pull them out?

    Parent

    Peaches (none / 0) (#12)
    by jimakaPPJ on Fri Feb 16, 2007 at 07:37:00 PM EST
    Don't get arroused no fight guy...;-)

    I was thinking of redploying them to Iran...

    Parent

    hell yeah! (none / 0) (#6)
    by kdog on Fri Feb 16, 2007 at 12:45:05 PM EST
    Great idea Jim.  But why stop at Italy?

    Parent
    Why? (none / 0) (#10)
    by Al on Fri Feb 16, 2007 at 03:20:18 PM EST
    Why would you pull out from Italy? (Sicily is part of Italy).

    Parent
    or ... (none / 0) (#7)
    by Sailor on Fri Feb 16, 2007 at 01:54:49 PM EST
    ... italy's spy agency could come over here and kidnap the cia officers supected of the crime and send them to a syrian prison for 'questioning.'

    Sailor (none / 0) (#13)
    by jimakaPPJ on Fri Feb 16, 2007 at 07:37:54 PM EST
    They could certainly try.


    Parent
    Deprivation of liberty? (none / 0) (#8)
    by desertswine on Fri Feb 16, 2007 at 02:33:13 PM EST
    Dog the Bounty Hunter Ordered to Stand Trial in Mexico

    Italy Orders Trial for CIA Agents in Kidnapping Case

    I'm having a case of disconnect here.

    Acckkkk...  does not compputeeee....

    If the Italian agents (none / 0) (#9)
    by Jen M on Fri Feb 16, 2007 at 03:06:02 PM EST
    admited conspiring, are they going to be tried too?

    as far as I can tell (none / 0) (#11)
    by scribe on Fri Feb 16, 2007 at 03:37:30 PM EST
    If the Italian agents admited conspiring, are they going to be tried too?

    The answer is yes.  The press pretty uniformly reports that there were a total of 31 indictments handed out:  26 US personnel (25 CIA, 1 USAF) and 5 Italians (apparently all SISMI, their military/security intelligence service).  One of the SISMI folks indicted is the same Mr. Pollari who is tied into the Niger Forgeries that played such a prominent part in the buildup to war and in leading into Joe Wilson going to Niger to check out their veracity (and the veracity of the underlying Saddam-trying-to-buy-yellowcake-from-Niger story).

    From what I can tell from press reports, the US isn't going to hand over any of its people.  It isn't even clear whether the Italian authorities are going to try to get them extradited, as maintenance of foreign-policy relationships will impact that.  On the other hand, the Italian defendants are all making fish flopping on the deck of a trawler look positively languid in their attempts to turn and get better deals.

    That the US isn't going to hand over its people is of little moment to the Italian courts, as they have no problem with trying and convicting people in absentia.

    Parent

    Jen (none / 0) (#14)
    by jimakaPPJ on Fri Feb 16, 2007 at 07:38:39 PM EST
    Only if it was about Valerie Plame.

    Parent
    OFF TOPIC TROLL POST (none / 0) (#15)
    by Sailor on Fri Feb 16, 2007 at 09:39:41 PM EST


    Parent
    Sailor can't figure it out.. (none / 0) (#16)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sat Feb 17, 2007 at 08:59:40 AM EST
    So you're back at it, eh sailor..

    Hey everybody! Look! Jim made, he thought, an ironic comment that had a hint of humor, he thought, and SAILOR DOESN'T LIKE IT!

    WOW!!!

    Now, go back and read desertswine's comment, follow that with Jen's questions and scribes answer...

    That the US isn't going to hand over its people is of little moment to the Italian courts, as they have no problem with trying and convicting people in absentia.  

    Now, let me help you, since you are havng problems..

    We have one third rate and one second rate country
    angry because, since they didn't, "we" went in and did their job.

    scribe then comes along and gives her an answer, without even realizing that the real sin is what these two countries didn't do and are now doing.

    In the meantime, a member of the administration that is also trying to do "good" in combating terror is being tried for the crime of poor memory...

    Catch on??? No? That figures.

    Parent

    Correction (none / 0) (#17)
    by Repack Rider on Sat Feb 17, 2007 at 10:27:49 AM EST
    We have one third rate and one second rate country angry because, since they didn't, "we" went in and did their job.

    Who was SUPPOSED to kidnap and torture the subject?  Whom did we ask for permission to do so on sovereign soil?  Would we have any reason to object if Italian agents kidnapped someone in Washington and sent him to China for a torture session?

    a member of the administration that is also trying to do "good" in combating terror is being tried for the crime of poor memory...

    If by "good" you mean wrecking the CIA's non-proliferation program, and if you mean by "poor memory" that he is lying his ass off, on tape, for eight hours, to cover up a crime, then I don't have a problem with that statement.

    Parent

    RePack (none / 0) (#19)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sat Feb 17, 2007 at 04:19:22 PM EST
    If the Italians had acted we would not have had to.

    This again demonstrates how laughable the "Use standard criminal justice procedures" really is.

    Parent

    Repack (none / 0) (#18)
    by Che's Lounge on Sat Feb 17, 2007 at 11:06:52 AM EST
    According to Jim, we are at war. And he has the toy army men spread out all over his dining room to prove it. They are going on a terrorist search and destroy mission in the living room this afternoon. Don't believe him?

    VALERIE PLAME, OVER THERE!!!

    Italy Orders Trial for CIA Agents in Kidnapping Case | 19 comments (19 topical)

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