Decision of the Court of Appeal of Milan, IV Criminal Section, of 12 February 2013

On the basis of the judgment of the Court of Cassation No. 46340 of 2012, the Court of Appeal of Milan reexamined the participation of five members of the Italian intelligence community (SISMI) (Pollari, Mancini, Di Gregori, Di Troia e Ciorra) in the abduction of the Egyptian national Abu Omar (an “extraordinary rendition” operation carried out by CIA agents in Milan in 2003, for which the accused U.S. nationals had been already prosecuted in absentia and convicted by Italian courts). The Court of Appeal found that the accused were guilty of kidnapping, on the basis of evidence collected at a previous stage of the proceeding and not covered with state secrecy.  Regarding the seriousness of the offense, the Court noted that: a) the kidnapping made possible the illegal transfer and detention of Abu Omar in Egypt, where he was subjected to torture; b) no national or international arrest warrant had been issued against Abu Omar at the time of the abduction; on the contrary, he had been recognized as a refugee in Italy; c) the assistance given by the SISMI agents to CIA agents for carrying out their wrongful activity resulted in a serious breach of the sovereignty of Italy.