Italian Prosecutor: Enough Evidence for CIA Convictions

May 21, 2009 by Infowars Ireland

FLORENCE, Italy — The chief prosecutor in a trial related to the U.S. “rendition” of a suspected terrorist believes there is more than enough evidence to secure a conviction of the Americans despite a ruling that excludes key Italian documents and testimony under ”state secrecy” laws.

A judge in Milan ruled Wednesday that the trial of Italian and American intelligence agents accused of kidnapping an Egyptian cleric known as Abu Omar, suspected of ties to al Qaeda, would continue, “even though critical evidence had been ruled inadmissible, severely undermining the prosecution’s case,” according to a local account.

In March the Italian Supreme Court excluded the prosecution’s use documents seized from Italian and U.S. intelligence operatives, “narrowing the chances of a ruling in favor of the cleric,” according to the account in the International Herald Tribune.

“We’re continuing, but it is more of a formality,” the lawyer for Nicolò Pollari, the former chief of Italian military intelligence, who is among those on trial, told the paper.

But in an email, the prosecutor, Armando Spataro, insisted “there was sufficient evidence for convictions, even excluding materials now deemed classified by the Constitutional Court.”

The proceedings will resume May 27, ”when we’ll interrogate all the defendants,” Spataro said.

In addition to top Italian security officials who allegedly aided the alleged kidnapping plot, 26 Americans, all but one identified as CIA operatives, are standing trial in absentia.

Should the Americans be found guilty, the chances of the Obama administration extraditing them for imprisonment are considered practically zero, observers say.

But even now the defendants risk arrest and deportation from any other country that chose to honor Italian warrants.

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