Burlesconi to cover up for CIA rendition

[Magda Hassan]

Apart from their illegal human cargo you can just imagine what else they have on these planes.





Italy PM to press state secrecy in CIA trial

Fri 7 Nov 2008, 13:14 GMT



By Phil Stewart
ROME, Nov 7 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi will tell a Milan court trying Italian and U.S. spies for a suspected CIA "rendition" that details of agreements between the two countries' secret services are classified, his lawyer said.
This could be a blow to Italian prosecutors who are seeking testimony about collaboration for alleged secret transfers of terrorism suspects, known as "extraordinary renditions".
Twenty-six Americans and seven Italians are on trial accused of kidnapping a terrorism suspect in Milan in 2003 and flying him to Egypt. There, the suspect, Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, says he was tortured and held for years without charge.
The trial hit a roadblock last month when two former Italian spies, citing a letter from Berlusconi's office, invoked state secrecy while testifying. A judge is awaiting clarification from Berlusconi about what evidence is classified.
Nicola Ghedini, Berlusconi's lawyer, told Reuters that agreements with foreign intelligence agencies are state secrets. So any orders given in Italy that could disclose such agreements would also be classified.
"If orders are connected in any way with agreements between the American and Italian governments, it's obvious that they cannot be divulged," Ghedini said in an interview, outlining what he expected Berlusconi's office to tell the court.
Berlusconi was expected to confirm witnesses can testify about the actual "event" of the suspected kidnapping, which the state did not know about and is not classified, Ghedini said.
Berlusconi's response, due by Nov. 21, may not please Judge Oscar Magi, who said last month it was hard for prosecutors to prove a kidnapping if related evidence was classified.
"It would be a bit like saying that only a crime's historic occurrence is knowable and ascertainable and not its causes, not the conduct of those behind it, not its later justifications," Magi wrote in his observations, obtained by Reuters.

KEY TESTIMONY IN QUESTION
State secrecy has long cast a shadow over the criminal trial, in which the Americans are being tried in absentia.
The trial could even be thrown out altogether by Italy's Constitutional Court, which convenes on the case in March. The Italian state has argued that prosecutors trampled on state secrecy rules when pursuing their investigation.
Even if the trial continues, the latest state secrecy snag could prevent a former head of Italy's military intelligence agency SISMI from offering key testimony as evidence.
Gianfranco Battelli told prosecutors during their investigations that the CIA sounded him on renditions in 2001.
"(The CIA station chief in Rome) asked my opinion, 'What do you think' about the hypothesis of carrying out the strategy of so-called renditions," Battelli told prosecutors, according to a copy of the testimony during the investigation, seen by Reuters.
Battelli said he told the CIA chief he was on his way out of office and that the CIA should talk with his successor.
That man, Nicolo Pollari, is the highest-level former Italian official facing indictment. He denies any wrongdoing.
Berlusconi, a strong ally of U.S. President George W. Bush, was prime minister when Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, disappeared and may also be called to testify in the coming months.
"He will have no problem responding (in court)," Ghedini said. "The Italian government did not know anything about the Abu Omar case, it never made (the disappearance of) Abu Omar classified, and nothing can be said about U.S.-Italy agreements related to the management of intelligence agencies." (Editing by Giles Elgood)
http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnL6609164.html

[David Guyatt]

On Berlusconi - Our late Prime Minister "Tone's" best mafia mate - see the following:

http://www.globalintegrity.org/reports/2...t=timeline

Italy: Corruption Timeline

February 1992 – A judge arrests Socialist Mario Chiesa, president of the Pio Trivulzio Old Age Home, for taking a kickback of 7 million lire (US$3,000). In November, Chiesa is sentenced to six years in prison and fined 6 billion lire (his sentence is later reduced slightly). The arrest sets off "Operation Clean Hands" (Mani Pulite), led by anti-corruption crusader Antonio Di Pietro, which eventually uncovers widespread corruption representing trillions of lire in kickbacks. During the course of the inquiry five former prime ministers are indicted (three are convicted), more than 12,000 people are investigated, and about 5,000 businesspersons and politicians are arrested. The investigation earns both Milan and the scandal itself the nickname "Bribesville" (Tangentopoli).

April 1992 – The Christian Democratic Party (DC—Partito Democratico Cristiano) falls below the required 30 percent threshold in the general elections, and the governing four-party coalition only retains the slimmest of majorities. Nineteen days later, President of the Republic Francesco Cossiga announces his resignation, and Speaker of the Senate Giovanni Spadolini temporarily assumes the presidency.

May 1992 – Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, a 73-year-old Christian Democrat, becomes president of the republic.

July 1992 – A top executive of Fiat is arrested for paying illegal kickbacks to obtain contracts for work on Milan's subway system. In February 1993, two more executives are arrested in connection with the scandal. Eventually, in 1997, one of them is convicted on corruption charges.

December 1992 – Bettino Craxi, secretary of the Socialist Party (PSI—Partito Socialista) and former prime minister from 1983 to 1987, is advised that he is under investigation for corruption, possession of stolen goods, and violation of political party finance laws. In January 1993, prosecutors present 41 charges and ask to proceed with a full investigation of Craxi, who eventually resigns in February. In April, the Chamber of Deputies denies four requests for authorization to proceed against Craxi. Nationwide protests ensue.

March 1993 – Gabriele Cagliari, chairman of energy conglomerate ENI, is arrested in connection with kickbacks to ENEL, the public electrical company. In July, Cagliari commits suicide in prison.

April 1993 – Prime Minister Giuliano Amato resigns. Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, governor of the Bank of Italy, is appointed by President Scalfaro to lead the transition. Ciampi resigns in January 1994, prompting Scalfaro to dissolve the government and schedule new elections for the following March.

July 1993 – Raul Gardini, former head of Ferruzi-Montedison agro-chemical company, kills himself following allegations that he had established a slush fund to pay off politicians. Gardini was due to be arrested later in the day along with three associates from Montedison. Prosecutors had been investigating a 1989 joint venture between Gardini and Cagliari's ENI called Enimont, which was bought out by ENI in 1990 for US$2.5 billion, a price that politicians allegedly helped inflate. Prosecutors further charged that US$82 million in bribes had been paid by Enimont to leading politicians, including former prime ministers Craxi and Arnaldo Forlani.

October 1993 – The Parliament votes to eliminate parliamentary immunity, allowing judges to investigate members of Parliament without permission, but not arrest them.

January 1994 – Political parties crack and shift. Billionaire Silvio Berlusconi resigns as president of Fininvest and enters politics, founding the right-wing Forza Italia Party (loosely translated as "Come on Italy"). Berlusconi, whose companies control 90 percent of private Italian television and many other media organizations, is supported by his friend, Craxi. The DC is dissolved and two new parties emerge: the leftist Italian Popular Party (PPI—Partito Populare Italiano) and the conservative Christian Democratic Center (CCD—Centro Cristiano Democratico).

March 1994 – The Milan prosecutor investigates Fininvest to determine whether a slush fund was used to acquire a soccer player for Milan's team, owned by Fininvest. Berlusconi accuses the investigators of maneuvering against his Forza Italia Party.

March 1994 – Berlusconi's Forza Italia wins the most seats, and his four-party Freedom Alliance (Polo della Libertà) wins an absolute majority in the Chamber and a relative majority in the Senate, giving Berlusconi a precarious balance of power in the government. Berlusconi forms his government in May.

May 1994 – Seeking to avoid trial, Craxi flees Italy for Tunisia. He is later tried and convicted in absentia and sentenced to more than 26 years in prison for bribery and corruption.

July 1994 – The Council of Ministers approves a decree restricting judges' arrest powers. When judges in the "Clean Hands" team threaten to resign in protest, the government abandons the restriction plans and the Chamber officially rejects it.

November 1994 – As he chairs a United Nations conference in Naples concerning organized crime, Berlusconi is indicted for corruption. On December 13, Berlusconi is interrogated for more than seven hours by the Milanese investigators regarding accusations that he bribed tax inspectors 330 million lire (US$175,000) for friendly audits of three companies controlled by Fininvest.

December 1994 – Berlusconi's Freedom Alliance crumbles and Berlusconi resigns. In January, President Scalfaro charges Lamberto Dini with forming a new government.

February 1995 – The cabinet approves a bill mandating equity in the distribution of media time for party propaganda. The ombudsman for the media will be able to require replies and corrections, negative advertisements will be prohibited, and opinion polls will be limited.

April 1995 – The center-left wins administrative elections, with the Democratic Party of the Left (PDS—Partito Democratici di Sinistra) overtaking Forza Italia as the most popular party.

May 1995 – The Milan Prosecutor's Office charges Berlusconi with corruption and fraud related to a property deal, as well as abetting the suspected payment of bribes to the tax collector.

July 1995 – An international arrest warrant is issued for Craxi, who is charged with bribery connected to contracts for the Milan subway system. Due to his close connections with President Ben Ali of Tunisia, Craxi remains undisturbed at his seaside resort, protected by heavily armed guards.

November 1995 – The Milan prosecutor files charges against Berlusconi for false accounting and fiscal improprieties during the acquisition of the Medusa film company. Berlusconi's Fininvest holding company allegedly wired 15 billion lire to Craxi's Swiss bank account.

January 1996 – The trial begins concerning alleged bribes Berlusconi paid to tax inspectors in return for lenient audits that would enable him to buy a private TV station, Telepiù.

February 1996 – Prime Minister Dini resigns and President Scalfaro appoints Antonio Maccanico to form a government, which immediately fails. Scalfaro dissolves Parliament and schedules April elections.

May 1996 – After elections yield no clear winner, President Scalfaro asks Romano Prodi to form a new government. The center-left Olive Tree (Ulivo) alliance is born, and Prodi becomes prime minister.

September 1996 – The "Clean Hands" scandal erupts again after the arrest of the managing director of state railways on charges of corruption, embezzlement, and fraud.

December 1997 – The Milan tribunal finds Berlusconi guilty of false accounting in the Medusa case, sentencing him to 16 months in prison. As is the case with most sentences of less than three years, Berlusconi's sentence is suspended, and in fact he is later pardoned.

July 1998 – At the beginning of the month, Berlusconi is sentenced to 33 months in prison for bribes paid by Fininvest to tax inspectors. The following week, Berlusconi is hit with an additional 28-month sentence and a US$5.6 million fine for channeling US$12 million through an offshore account to the exiled Craxi, who himself is given a sentence of four years and a US$11.2 million fine.

October 1998 – The Prodi government loses a confidence vote and resigns. The Olive Tree coalition arranges for Massimo D'Alema, a former member of the Communist Party (CPI—Partito Comunista Italiana) and now chief of the DS (formerly the PDS), to accede to the position of prime minister.

November 1998 – The lower house of Parliament rejects the establishment of a commission of inquiry into "Clean Hands." The move essentially ends further investigation by Parliament into Italy's systematic political corruption.

May 1999 – Treasury Minister Carlo Azeglio Ciampi is elected president of the republic.

August 1999 – Milan investigators announce that the "Clean Hands" investigations have officially ended.

December 1999 – Prime Minister D'Alema is reappointed to his position and forms a seven-party coalition to maintain control of the government.

January 2000 – Craxi dies in Tunisia.

January 2000 – Parliament opens a commission to review the "Clean Hands" investigations and look at party financing reform since 1974. By the end of the year, the anti-corruption movement begun in 1993 generally comes to be regarded as a failure; due to legal maneuvering and a slow judicial system, of 582 people to earn convictions, fewer than 10 serve prison sentences.

February 2000 – Four members of Italy's aid mission to Kosovo, including the head, are arrested for colluding with the Albanian mafia to allegedly siphon off funds meant for Kosovar refugees.

April 2000 – D'Alema resigns after poor regional election results and is replaced as prime minister by Giuliano Amato.

February 2001 – The Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Officials in International Business Transactions enters into force in Italy, having been implemented and ratified in late 2000.

May 2001 – The center-right, five-party Freedom House (Casa delle Libertà) coalition led by Silvio Berlusconi of Forza Italia wins the general elections.

June 2001 – A 1991 corruption case against Berlusconi, in which he allegedly spent 400 million lire (US$170,000) to bribe a judge in exchange for a favorable ruling in a case about acquiring Mondadori publishing house, is thrown out by an Italian tribunal when the statute of limitations expires.

July 2001 – The lower house of Parliament passes a bill decriminalizing false accounting, a charge which Berlusconi himself faced in the Medusa case. In October, Berlusconi is acquitted by Italy's highest court.

September 2001 – Berlusconi's government presents a bill to the Senate that substantially decriminalizes false accounting, reducing the maximum prison sentence for false accounting from five years to 18 months, reduces the statute of limitations from 15 years to half that, and only allows shareholders and creditors to press charges if a company is private. As written, the bill would greatly benefit Berlusconi, who faces such charges. The bill is passed into law in February 2002.

October 2001 – Following a bitter debate, the Senate passes a bill that ratifies a 1998 accord between Italy and Switzerland aimed at enhancing judicial cooperation. Ironically, due to added amendments, the bill actually makes it more difficult to get evidence from abroad. The retroactive law would facilitate Berlusconi's acquittal in the Fininvest bribery and Sme cases, as some of the central evidence against him are bank transfers in Switzerland that would no longer be admissible evidence in court. In February, the Swiss government delays the ratification of the treaty because the Italian legislature passed an amended version that circumvented the original intent of the pact.

October 2001 – Citing the expiration of the statute of limitations and a general lack of evidence, Italy's top appellate court clears Berlusconi of corruption charges that he had bribed tax inspectors US$175,000 in exchange for friendly audits of some companies within Fininvest.

January 2002 – The United Nations Human Rights Commission announces plans to investigate the independence of the Italian judiciary. The U.N. asserts that dangerous reforms are being introduced, such as the removal of escorts from prosecutors and judges.

February/March 2002 – Parliament approves a bill enabling Berlusconi to keep control of his multi-billion-dollar business empire while prime minister.

January 2003 – Berlusconi announces that he will discipline judges he deems too involved in politics. Late in the month, Berlusconi introduces a measure that would grant him and other members of Parliament criminal immunity for the first time since the post-"Clean Hands" reforms in 1993. The initiatives dovetail with his own escalating legal troubles and earn him intense criticism from the public and judiciary.

February 2003 – Police arrest 72 doctors and workers at GlaxoSmithKline, the second-largest pharmaceutical company in the world, accusing the employees of bribing Italian doctors to prescribe their company's products. According to police, another 2,902 doctors are under investigation for the scandal, which arose as a result of a random audit in July 2002. That inquiry turned up about US$100 million in "other promotions" which were attributed to allegedly illegal gifts including stereo systems, wine, and trips to the Caribbean. The company maintained that its promotional campaigns were both legal and proper. The case is ongoing.

May/June 2003 – Berlusconi appears at his own trial in a Milan court on corruption charges related to his 1980s business dealings—whether Fininvest bribed a magistrate US$434,000 in 1986 to block a rival bid for Sme, a state-owned food company which he subsequently took over.

June 2003 – Citing a need to spare Italy embarrassment as it prepares to assume leadership of the European Union's rotating presidency, Parliament quickly passes a law giving criminal immunity to the prime minister, the head of state, the presidents of both chambers of Parliament, and the head of the Constitutional Court—a move that ends the Sme trial against Berlusconi. According to the new law, dubbed "Lodo Schifani," all outstanding cases against Berlusconi are frozen as long as he remains prime minister. Opponents of the new law gather support to force a referendum.

September 2003 – Seeking to challenge Berlusconi's immunity, former "Clean Hands" prosecutor and now legislator di Pietro deposits 130 boxes of petitions accounting for nearly a million signatures at a court in Rome. Italian law requires 500,000 signatures to prompt a national referendum.

November 2003 – Parmalat defaults on a €150 million (US$185 million) bond. The surprising move by the global food and dairy conglomerate prompts auditors and bankers to scrutinize its accounts closely.

December 2003 – The Bank of America declares that a €3.95 billion (US$4.9 billion) Parmalat account purported to hold 38 percent of the company's assets simply does not exist. In the ensuing inquiry, Italian investigators claim that the corporation simply fabricated assets to offset over US$16 billion in debt and liabilities over a 15-year span. Soon afterward, Parmalat declares bankruptcy while company founder and Chief Executive Calisto Tanzi is arrested on charges of fraud, embezzlement, false accounting, and misleading investors. Tanzi soon confesses to most of the charges, including falsifying financial statements and stealing over US$620 million to cover losses in family-owned companies. At year's end, seven other individuals are arrested, including two former Parmalat finance officers and two partners at Grant Thornton accounting firm.

January 2004 – The Constitutional Court rules that the "Lodo Schifani" law giving immunity to Berlusconi and other high-level officials was unconstitutional. The ruling means that Berlusconi's Sme corruption trial, suspended in June, must now begin anew. The court's action also negates the need for the national referendum that di Pietro had promoted.