Acquittals reversed in CIA case in Italy involving ex-station chief, two others

Saturday, February 2, 2013

— MILAN - A Milan appeals court on Friday vacated acquittals for a former CIA station chief and two other Americans and instead convicted them in the 2003 abduction of an Egyptian terrorism suspect from a Milan street as part of the CIA’s extraordinary-rendition program.

Extraordinary rendition is the practice of transferring terrorism suspects to other countries for interrogation.

The court decision meansthat all 26 Americans tried in absentia for the abduction now have been found guilty.

The trials, which have dragged on for years, brought the first convictions anywhere in the world against CIA agents involved in a practice alleged to have led to torture. The case has been the source of diplomatic tensions, although three successive Italian leaders, including the technical government of Premier Mario Monti, have invoked state secrets, which has had the effect of limitingevidence in the successive trials and led to the acquittals of five Italians, including two spy chiefs.

An appeals court sentenced former CIA Rome station chief Jeffrey Castelli to seven years and handed sentences of six years each to Americans Betnie Medero and Ralph Russomando. A lower court, while convicting 23 other Americans in November 2009, had acquitted the three, citing diplomatic immunity.

None of the Americanshas been in Italian custody or appeared in court, but they risk arrest if they travel to Europe. Only two have had any contact with their lawyers, both of whom expressly requested their own counsel late in the first trial phase, in the face of U.S. official silence on the case and citing special personal and legal circumstances.

A number of the names listed on the official docket are believed to be aliases.

Italy’s highest court lastyear upheld the convictions of the 23 other Americans in absentia in the abduction of Egyptian terrorism suspect Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, onFeb. 17, 2003. Nasr was transferred to U.S. military bases in Italy, then Germany, before being flown to Egypt, where he alleges he was tortured. He has since been released.

Front Section, Pages 8 on 02/02/2013