Italian Court Convicts CIA Agents of Kidnapping of Muslim Cleric

All those convicted by Judge Oscar Magi had been tried in absentia as the Italian government, both the current administration and past administrations, had refused to cooperate in any extradition proceedings. Those convicted of the kidnapping of Osama Mustafa Hassan Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, are now fugitives in the eyes of the law. But as the New York Times reports, whilst Armando Spataro, the counter-terrorism prosecutor in Italy responsible for the case, has indicated that he may ask the Italian government for an international arrest warrant for the convicted individuals, it seems unlikely that an American will spend any time in jail for their part in the kidnapping. Judge Magi handed down an eight-year sentence to the former CIA station chief in Milan, Robert Seldon Lady, and five-year sentences to the remaining 22 defendants. A further three Americans had been indicted by the court but were able to claim diplomatic immunity as they were based at the U.S. embassy in Rome. Jeffrey Castelli, a former C.I.A. station chief in Rome, was one of the three. Five Italians, the New York Times indicates seven but other sources state five, were also indicted in the case but were acquitted on the basis of what CNN describes as state secrecy provisions. The former head of Italian intelligence, Nicolo Pollari, was acquitted on that basis. However, according to the Associated Press, two Italians were found guilty of being accomplices to kidnapping and given three-year jail sentences. It remains to be seen if those sentences will be served. Following his abduction Osama Mustafa Hassan Nasr, reportedly under surveillance at the time by the Italian intelligence agency, which suspected him of recruiting militants to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan, eventually ended up in Egypt, via U.S. bases in Italy and Germany. Mr Nasr, who has since been released, has claimed that during the time he spent in detention in Egypt, he is Egyptian by birth and still lives in the country, he was tortured. What allegedly happened to Mr Nasr, possibly a member of the terrorist group al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya, appears to fit the description of what opponents of its practice call "extraordinary rendition". The court did order that those found guilty of his kidnapping should pay damages of €1 million ($1.48 million) to Mr Nasr and €500,000 ($740,000) to the 46-year-old cleric's wife. Mr Nasr has apparently filed a suit for a much greater amount in damages, $14 million, and his wife has filed for $7.4 million in damages from the Italian authorities. Another suit has been filed with the European Court of Human Rights. Silvio Berlusconi was Prime Minister of Italy in 2003, as he is now, and was known as a strong supporter of former U.S. President George W. Bush. Yet the Italian authorities have consistently denied that they played a part in the kidnapping of Mr Nasr. Nevertheless CNN quotes CIA sources, and one of the agency's former analysts, Michael Scheuer, as saying that their Italian counterparts had endorsed the operation. Although the CIA has refused to comment on the case, one of those convicted by the Milan court, and given the longest jail sentence, seemingly has. Back in June an Italian newspaper, Il Giornale, owned by a brother of Mr Berlusconi, published an interview it claimed to have conducted via Skype with Robert Seldon Lady, now retired and living in an unknown location. Mr Lady supposedly said of the kidnapping of Mr Nasr:

Of course it was an illegal operation. But that’s our job. We’re at war against terrorism

Commenting on the verdict in a trial which went ahead despite a distinct lack of enthusiasm amongst many of the authorities in Italy and lasted almost three years, Joanne Mariner, of the New York City-based NGO Human Rights Watch, said that it "sends a strong signal of the crimes committed by the CIA in Europe", crimes that she noted were "unacceptable and unjustified".