Italian ex-spy chief gets 10 years in CIA case.

[No Elephants]

Italian ex-spy chief gets 10 years in CIA case



MILAN | Tue Feb 12, 2013 7:30am EST

(Reuters) - Italy's former military intelligence chief was sentenced to 10 years in jail on Tuesday for his role in the kidnapping of an Egyptian Muslim cleric in an operation organized by the United States.

An American former CIA station chief was this month sentenced in absentia to seven years in jail after imam Abu Omar was snatched from a Milan street in 2003 and flown to Egypt for interrogation during the United States' "war on terror".

The Milan appeals court sentenced Niccolo Pollari, former head of the Sismi military intelligence agency, to 10 years in prison and his former deputy Marco Mancini to nine years.

The court also awarded a provisional 1 million euros in damages to the imam, the Ansa news wire reported, as well as 500,000 euros to the imam's wife.

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Madia said Pollari had not been able to defend himself properly because successive Italian governments had declared the case to be covered by state secrecy laws.

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Abu Omar says he was tortured for seven months after being flown to Egypt in what was known as an "extraordinary rendition" operation. He was resident in Italy at the time of his abduction.

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Human rights groups have been fighting to expose heavy-handed tactics used by the CIA during the Bush administration.

(Reporting by Sara Rossi; Writing by Keith Weir; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/12/us-italy-rendition-verdict-idUSBRE91B0OS20130212

Guess there's still some justice and basic human decency and morality somewhere.

Whodda thunk it'd be in Italy, a great nation that unfortunately is also known for the mafia, pervasive corruption among major and minor public officials and bunga bunga?

Did Italy claim state secrets because the government was involved beyond these two guys, or because they don't want to allow a a precedent of sorts to be set? Hard to know. Legally, judicial precedent does not have the same effect in a civil law nation, like Italy, as it does in common law nations, like ours.

How very embarrassing for the U.S. and the CIA, though. I wonder what will happen next?

As far as the pesky human rights organizations, bless them. If anyone can donate anything to Amnesty International or some similar group, please do.

I hesitate somewhat to say that because donating anything these days pretty much assures they will solicit additional donations unless you manage to get off their list, but they do such good and necessary work. When I donate to anything now, I always request not to be put on any mailing or telephone list. Sometimes it works.

Meanwhile, I don't want to reap the whirlwind we've sown in the Middle East, but I guess I have a better than average chance of doing that. I live in a terrorist target rich environment, supposedly. Boston is so chock full of national iconic symbols that the entire city is considered a National Park.

[Enthusiast]

1. What an interesting development!

Sounds like Niccolo Pollari got off a lot easier than Abu Omar. At least no torture.