Italy CIA kidnap trial adjourned

Judge Oscar Magi adjourned the trial until the end of October

A judge in Italy has adjourned the first criminal trial involving the "extraordinary rendition" of a terrorism suspect by the CIA. Judge Oscar Magi said he wanted a higher court to decide whether prosecutors had broken state secrecy rules in pursuing the charges.
Twenty-six Americans and six Italians are accused of kidnapping a Muslim cleric from a Milan street in 2003.
Abu Omar was then sent to a prison in Egypt, where he was allegedly tortured.
The imam was suspected of recruiting fighters for Islamic fundamentalist groups at the time, but was not charged with any offence.
He was released by Egypt earlier this year.
Wiretaps
The Milan court's decision came after defence lawyers applied for an adjournment pending a ruling by the Constitutional Court on whether prosecutors had broken the law by using wiretaps on Italian agents.
There is no point in pursuing the trial because the case hinges on the decision by the Constitutional Court


Judge Oscar Magi


The prosecution said the wiretaps were justified because "facts which jeopardise the constitutional order cannot be covered by state secrecy laws".
Judge Magi agreed with the defence, however, and adjourned the trial until 24 October.
"There is no point in pursuing the trial because the case hinges on the decision by the Constitutional Court," he said.
The lawyer of the former head of Italian military intelligence, Gen Nicolo Pollari, who is one of the accused, said the decision was "dictated by common sense" and "legally right".
Abu Omar's lawyer, Carmelo Scambia, said the judge had made a balanced decision.
"The suspension is welcome so everything can be clarified," she said.
The Constitutional Court is due to rule on the appeal by September. The case is expected to be thrown out if it rules in favour of the defence.
The US has said the Americans accused of the kidnapping would not be sent to Italy even if the government made an extradition request.
BBC NEWS | World | Europe | Italy CIA kidnap trial adjourned


I saw a program on UK TV about this subject recently, apparently they (the CIA) have kidnapped a number of people, tortured them & held them without trial; then released them miles from anywhere once they were deemed to be innocent. They interviewed the head of the CIA during his time & he couldn't answer many questions... but did acknowledge that rendition is illegal under international law.

One of the guy who this had happened to, had obviously not coped at all with it & it said that after they'd filmed he'd been committed to a mental institution. It was incredibly sad.

I'm not posting this to paint the US in a bad light (as you'll see from the previous news item that the UK is just as bad!), but so that you could see what is going on in the worlds press - in case this isn't reported in the US.
We ALL get biased press, it's the way of the world, so it's NOT a judgement call. OK?