Judge freezes CIA kidnap trial in Italy

The first trial involving the CIA's "extraordinary rendition" program was halted on June 18 pending a decision from Italy's highest court. The trial of seven Italians and 26 US citizens -- the latter, all believed to be CIA agents, in absentia -- was suspended by Judge Oscar Magi until the constitutional court rules on whether prosecutors had unlawfully relied on state secrets to bring the charges. The high court will also hear another similar challenge from defense lawyers, who say prosecutors went too far by wiretapping phone conversations of Italian secret service agents. Judge Magi suspended the trial until Oct. 24, agreeing to a request by the defense to put the trial on hold until the constitutional court's ruling, due on Oct. 19. "It's a very clean decision," said Alessia Sorgato, a lawyer for several US defendants. "It's like sealing the case in Tupperware and putting it in the freezer." The decision in a trial that has embarrassed both the Italian and US governments is a setback for prosecutors, who accuse the Prodi government of exerting undue influence to get the case thrown out. The government has requested that the constitutional court annul the proceedings altogether and the US has said it will refuse any request by Italy to extradite the accused. The trial only opened on June 8, and had not yet considered the merits of the accusations. Prosecutors say a CIA-led team, with help from Nicolo Pollari, the head of Italian intelligence, abducted a Muslim cleric, Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, from a Milan street in 2003. Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, was allegedly driven to a military base in northern Italy and flown to Egypt, where Nasr says he was tortured under interrogation with electric shocks, beatings, rape threats and genital abuse. The constitutional court's ruling will indicate whether the trial will have the power to publicly air details of the US renditions -- the extrajudicial transfer of terror suspects from country to country -- as well as revealing details of what was supposed to be a highly secret operation.