CIA agents sentenced in Italy rendition case

CIA agents sentenced in Italy rendition case
First legal blow to Bush policy of seizing suspects from Europe's streets
The Independent, 5 Nov '09

In a stiff rebuke from across the Atlantic to the policies of former US president George Bush, a judge in Milan yesterday sentenced 23 American citizens to up to eight years in prison for their part in the secret abduction of a Muslim cleric in 2003 and his rendition for questioning in Egypt, where he was imprisoned and tortured.

All but one of the 23 US citizens were identified by prosecutors in the three-year trial as members or former members of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). It was the first such trial of US citizens in a foreign nation related to the now widely discredited secret rendition activities by the CIA, part of Mr Bush's so-called "War on Terror".

These would appear to be the highest level prosecutions to date. It's no surprise that the former head of Italy's military intelligence, Nicolo Pollari, and his deputy, were acquitted thanks to "diplomatic immunity and inadmissibility of evidence protected by secrecy laws."

I see. Whew. I was wondering, how in the world did the CIA let 23 of their employees sit in an Italian court room and go through these trials. They were tried in absentia. Change of identity and they are good to go I suppose. If they had been actually in court and jailed, that wouldn't be very good for recruitment for the CIA. Dog and pony show is all it is.

Yes it sounds like a dog and pony show.

He also acquitted the former head of Italy's military intelligence, Nicolo Pollari, and his deputy, citing issues of diplomatic immunity and inadmissibility of evidence protected by secrecy laws.

So they didn't convict anyone from Italy that facilitated the extraction.

Agreed - at best it's symbolic; at worst it creates an illusion of due process. There's a public and legal consensus that crimes of State took place, but no expectation that justice will be served.

Get ready for some more dirty laundry about Berlusconi to all of a sudden surface Worst agency, along side of the FSB, to garner thier ire.