CIA Kidnapping - Egyptian Imam Osama Mustafa Hassan Nasr (Abu Omar) - Italy Reduces CIA Sentences

ꕤ Article SOURCE as marked The Guardian   Italian president reduces sentences in CIA kidnapping case Sergio Mattarella shaved two years off the sentence of a former CIA base chief convicted in absentia in the 2003 abduction of an Egyptian terror suspect Friday 25 December 2015 02.17 AEDT Last modified on Wednesday 30 December 2015 00.02 AEDT Italy’s president has shaved two years off the sentence of a former CIA base chief convicted in absentia in the 2003 extraordinary rendition abduction of an Egyptian terror suspect. With the decree, announced Wednesday night by the presidential palace, President Sergio Mattarella reduced to seven from nine years Robert Seldon Lady’s sentence. Mattarella also wiped out the three-year sentence handed down by a Milan court to another US defendant convicted in absentia, Betnie Medero. The palace said Italy’s head of state above all took into consideration Barack Obama’s ending the practice of extraordinary renditions, which Italy and the European Union consider “incompatible with the fundamental principles of a state of law”. In all, 26 Americans were convicted in absentia in the kidnapping of Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr. Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, was kidnapped while walking to noon prayers at a Milan mosque on 17 February 2003. He had been under investigation in Italy for allegedly recruiting jihadi fighters. Prosecutors claimed CIA operatives snatched him with the help of two Italian intelligence officers, drove him to Aviano air force base, and then flew him to a Nato base in Germany en route to Cairo, Egypt. When Nasr emerged from an Egyptian prison four years later, he claimed he had been tortured. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/24/italian-president-reduces-sentences-in-cia-kidnapping-case TeleSurTV Italian President Pardons CIA Kidnappers Published 24 December 2015 [ extract ] [ ... ] The CIA's former Milanese station chief Robert Seldon Lady and another U.S. national, Bernie Medero, were pardoned by President Sergio Mattarella for their role in the 2003 kidnapping. More than 20 CIA agents were convicted in absentia, with Lady facing the longest prison term of nine years. None of the agents ever served any time behind bars, though Lady and others risked arrest under international warrants if they traveled to Europe. Lady himself was temporarily detained in Panama in 2013 over the conviction, but fled the country before Italian authorities could process an extradition request. The presidential pardon means Medero can now travel freely to Europe, though an Italian official told Reuters that Lady could still risk arrest in the European Union as his pardon only reduced his sentence from nine years to just two. The convictions against Lady, Medero and others in Italy were the first of their kind against CIA agents involved in Washington's extraordinary rendition program. The controversial program saw hundreds of suspected militants kidnapped by the CIA, transported to secretive prison sites and tortured. Many of the victims had no ties to extremist groups and the program was widely condemned by human rights groups. Rendition was officially shelved in 2008. http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Italian-President-Pardons-CIA-Kidnappers-20151224-0001.html ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- COMMENT No way known have they shelved that program.  I'm betting the lawlessness continues. The Italian sentencing is a joke.  Why even bother when it's all a farce? So, when's Italy going to pardon the other 24?  lol ꕤ