A ruling with which the
European Court of Human Rights condemned Italy earlier this year
for preventing justice from being done in the 2003 extraordinary
rendition of a Muslim cleric in Milan became final on Thursday.
The decision is final after neither the Italian government
nor cleric Hassan Mustafa Omar Nasr, known as Abu Omar, appealed
and the three months to file an appeal against the February 23
ruling expired, as provided for by article 43 of the European
Convention on Human Rights, the Court told ANSA.
On February 23, the Strasbourg court said Italy abused State
secrecy legislation to protect Italian defendants, including
Italy's then top two intelligence officers, and also made a
mistake in not initially requesting the extradition of 22 CIA
agents and a US air Force colonel who were convicted.
It also condemned pardons for the three top US defendants by
Italian President Giorgio Napolitano and his successor Sergio
Mattarella.
The ECHR ruled that Italy had infringed the rights of the
cleric, knowing that Abu Omar had been a victim of an
extraordinary rendition operation that had started with his
abduction in Italy and had continued with his transfer abroad.
Noting that Italy cooperated in the operation to move the
cleric to Egypt, where he was held for several months, the Court
ruled that Italy was guilty of several human rights violations,
including the failure to prevent Nasr from suffering torture and
the infringement of his right to freedom and security.
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