2007年VOA标准英语-Italian Judge Indicts 26 Americans, Five Italia

By Sabina Castelfranco
Rome
16 February 2007

An Italian judge Friday indicted¹ 26 Americans and five Italians for their role in the abduction of an Egyptian terror suspect from Milan in 2003.  The decision means that Italy will be the site of the first criminal trial on the CIA's controversial program of "extraordinary renditions."  Sabina Castelfranco reports from Rome.

The trial is scheduled to open June 8. A total of 26 Americans, all but one, believed to be CIA agents, and five Italian secret service officials will have to answer to charges of kidnapping Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, from the streets of Milan in February 2003.

Italian prosecutors³ charge that the CIA carried out the illegal operation with the knowledge and assistance of the Italian secret services. They say the alleged⁴ kidnapping operation was a breach⁵ of Italian sovereignty that compromised Italy's own anti-terrorism efforts.

Nicolo Pollari (file photo)

Among those indicted is a former head of the Italian secret services, Nicolo Pollari, as well as the former CIA station chief in Milan, Robert Seldon Lady, and the former CIA station chief in Rome, Jeff Castelli.

While the Italians should be appearing in court, the Americans are most likely going to be tried in absentia. Prosecutors have been pushing for the Italian government to send an extradition⁶ request to the United States, but so far this has not happened.

But before the trial opens, Italy's Constitutional Court could suspend proceedings⁷. It has been asked by the government to rule on whether prosecutors overstepped their powers by ordering wiretaps of Italian agents' phone calls.

Prosecutor² Armando Spataro said the investigations⁹ did not violate state secrets. He added that it could not be claimed that illegal wiretaps were carried out, because the law does not ban these in a police investigation⁸.

Four years ago, the Egyptian imam was on his way from home to the mosque¹⁰ in Milan, when he was pushed into a van, driven to the U.S. airbase of Aviano in northern Italy from where he was flown first to Germany and then to Egypt. In Cairo, he says, he was questioned and tortured with electric shocks and other forms of abuse.

Nasr was released this week from prison in Cairo after four years. His lawyer said an Egyptian court found there was no reason for his detention¹¹ to continue. He is now at his family home in Alexandria, but he has said he wants to return to Italy, where years ago he was granted political asylum¹² and a permit to stay.

He has also said he wants to sue former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi as well as U.S. intelligence agencies for millions of dollars worth of damages.

It is unclear whether Egyptian authorities will allow Nasr to leave the country. His wife has expressed fear that he will only be re-arrested as soon as he arrives in Italy, where was under investigation for terrorism-related activities at the time of his abduction. Milan prosecutors issued a warrant for his arrest more than two years after he disappeared, while he was in custody¹³ in Egypt.

1 indicted   

控告，起诉( indict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The senator was indicted for murder. 那位参议员被控犯谋杀罪。
• He was indicted by a grand jury on two counts of murder. 他被大陪审团以两项谋杀罪名起诉。

2 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

3 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

4 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

5 breach   

n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破

参考例句：

• We won't have any breach of discipline.我们不允许任何破坏纪律的现象。
• He was sued for breach of contract.他因不履行合同而被起诉。

6 extradition   

n.引渡（逃犯）

参考例句：

• The smuggler is in prison tonight,awaiting extradition to Britain.这名走私犯今晚在监狱，等待引渡到英国。
• He began to trouble concerning the extradition laws.他开始费尽心思地去想关于引渡法的问题。

7 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

8 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

9 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

10 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。

11 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

12 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

13 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。