Twenty six US citizens, almost all believed to be CIA agents, went on trial in absentia on Friday accused of kidnapping a Muslim cleric in Milan and flying him to Egypt. The court case, highlighting one of Washington's most controversial policies in its war on terrorism, started hours before President George W. Bush was due to visit Italy.
Muslim cleric Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, was on Washington's list of terrorist suspects and he says he was tortured under interrogation in Egypt after his so-called extraordinary rendition from Italy.
As expected, none of the Americans turned up in court and only one Italian agent was present. The trial got under way with empty cages lining two walls of the courtroom.
The judge adjourned proceedings until June 18 to decide on a defence request to suspend the trial. Italian spies, including the former head of the SISMI intelligence agency, are accused of helping the US citizens carry out their plan.
"I have been doing this job for 33 years, I have always done it with my head held high and in the full light of day," SISMI agent Luciano di Gregori told Reuters. "I have nothing to hide."
Washington has said it will reject any request by Italy to extradite the accused. In Paris on Friday, a European investigator said he had proof Poland and Romania hosted secret CIA prisons under a post-9/11 pact to hunt down and interrogate "high value" terrorist suspects wanted by the United States.
Prosecutor Armando Spataro told reporters the Milan case would show the need to fight against terrorism with "the full respect of the laws of our Western democracies".
"We want the punishment of the terrorists, but in the courtrooms. And we don't need to give to our enemies any reason for recruiting other members of their organisations," he said. Italy's prime minister at the time, Silvio Berlusconi, and other critics say the trial could expose international espionage secrets and create headaches for Rome.
AWKWARD: The trial comes at an awkward time for centre-left Prime Minister Romano Prodi, increasingly unpopular a year into the job. He wants to keep fractious coalition partners united behind him and away from street protests against Bush on Saturday.
The opening of the trial dealt largely with procedural matters. It was adjourned after defence attorneys jointly called for it to be suspended pending a decision by Italy's constitutional court, which they expected in October.
The prime minister's office has lodged a motion with that court arguing prosecutors broke state secrecy rules during their investigation. Spataro objected to a suspension because it would give Prodi's office carte blanche to block any trial it found "uncomfortable".
Prosecutors say a CIA-led team seized the Muslim cleric, bundled him into a van and drove him to a military base in northern Italy. From there, prosecutors say the CIA flew him via Germany to Egypt where he says he was tortured with electric shocks, beatings, rape threats and genital abuse.
The cleric's Egyptian lawyer, attending the trial, told reporters his client "wants to be compensated morally and wants those who kidnapped him to pay for their crimes".
"He wanted to come but the Egyptian authorities prevented him," said Montasser al-Zayat, who is seeking criminal damages. Nasr was released from jail in February but had his passport confiscated.
The Italian case begins just over a week after the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a suit against a Boeing Co unit it accuses of helping the US CIA transfer foreign suspects to overseas prisons. The suit was filed on behalf of three people, including an Italian citizen, who the ACLU said were abducted by the CIA, detained and tortured.
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