Posted on 01/31/2007 5:14:36 AM PST by MARKUSPRIME
Germany has ordered the arrest of 13 suspected CIA agents over the alleged kidnapping of one of its citizens.
Munich prosecutors confirmed that the warrants were linked to the case of Khaled al-Masri, a German national of Lebanese descent.
Mr Masri says he was seized in Macedonia, flown to a secret prison in Afghanistan and mistreated there.
He says he was released in Albania five months later when the Americans realised they had the wrong man.
Mr Masri says his case is an example of the US policy of "extraordinary rendition" - a practice whereby the US government flies foreign terror suspects to third countries without judicial process for interrogation or detention.
Code names
Prosecutors in Munich said in a statement that the city's court had issued the warrants on suspicion of abduction and grievous bodily harm. The information on which the warrants was based came from Mr Masri's lawyers and a journalist and officials in Spain, where the flight carrying Mr Masri is thought to have originated.
"These findings, as well as other information uncovered in the probe, led to the strong suspicion that these 13 identifiable people were involved in the abduction of Masri," it said.
The names and nationalities concerned were not released but prosecutors said the names identified were thought to be the code names of CIA agents.
"The investigation will now focus on learning the actual names of the suspects," they said.
German arrest warrants are not valid in the US but if the suspects were to travel to the European Union they could be arrested.
Italian case
Mr Masri says he was abducted by US agents in the Macedonian capital, Skopje, on 31 December 2003.
He is seeking to sue the US government over his detention, but in May a judge dismissed a lawsuit he filed against the CIA, citing national security considerations.
The US government is not assisting the German authorities with the case.
Meanwhile in the Italian city of Milan, court hearings to decide whether to indict 25 alleged CIA agents and several Italians accused of kidnapping a Muslim cleric in 2003 are under way.
Osama Mustafa Hassan, or Abu Omar, says he was abducted from the streets of Milan and then tortured in Egypt.
If the case proceeds to trial, it would be the first criminal prosecution over America's rendition policy.
The practice has drawn widespread criticism from human rights groups, legal experts and the international community.
But last week a European Parliament committee approved a report saying EU states knew about secret CIA flights over Europe, the abduction of terror suspects by US agents and the existence of clandestine detention camps.
Umm . . . the guy was a German citizen.
Read the quoted line again: El-Khalid is a German citizen. German courts have overall jurisdiction for all crimes committed by or against German citizens worldwide. For instance, if I kill a US citizen in the US, and I can make it back to Germany, I won´t be extradited - because I´d get a "lifelong" imprisonment by the German courts.
Crimes are prosecuted by the jurisdiction in which they are committed. Some exceptions are when the crime is committed in international waters, the victim's home country may take action. German sovereignty does not extend to Macedonia.
Don´t ask me, ask the prosecutors (Staatsanwaltschaft München).
You may wish to brush-up on German law.
Question: How is it a terrorist who assisted in killing thousands of people in the US gets 15 years in Germany. Which divides out as only 1.8 days per victim. Then you say, if you committed a murder in the US you would get life? Would not you also get 1.8 days?
Germany: lay a hand on one of our guys and we'll resume bombing Dresden. Degenerate Nazi thugs
I give you the chance to reconsider the tone of your post. As a German citizen I certainly feel offended by your post.
Ahem. Germany exists on US sufferance. Feel offended all you want, it makes no difference.
Answer: The maximum fine by law for aiding and abetting murder is 15 years imprisonment, for murder (or encouraging someone to commit murder) it´s life sentence. The number of deads is not relevant for aiding and abetting, but for murder. However, we discuss the case of two Baader-Meinhoff-gang members, one applied for early release on probabtion after having been 24 years in prison, while she was convicted to 5 times life-long, and the other asked the Federal President for mercy after 24 years in prison. Under the law, the first can be out in spring, the second can be out in two years. 91% of Germans disagree with the early release, and probably the same number of Germans disagree with our ridiculous punishments. What´s the life of a victim worth if we set killers free after such a short time. For me, life-long shall mean at least 30 years (for one murder), with the possibility to release a criminal on probation when he reaches his 75th birthday. I don´t think it´s a "must" that they die in jail. But 24 years for 5 murders or 15 years for aiding and abetting to murder in 3,000 some cases is beyond reason.
Translation: I have to thank you - America - that I live, that I breathe, that I drink and eat??? Your arrogance leaves me speechless!!
You also have us to thank that we did not let the soviets have ALL of your country.
But I don't expect much from you. You are almost French.
> He maybe a German citizen,but first and for most he is a Freaking Terrorist...
Based on what, exactly?
And, if true, why did the CIA allow him to be released?
LOL, the nuclear weapon wasn´t fully developed when the Nazi regime was finished. And even when you dropped "da bomb" on Japan twice, these two bombs were pretty much all what you had at that time.
And I have thanked the US for having protected 3/4 of us against the Soviets, but I don´t think the grattitude goes that much that we accept our innocent citizens to be kidnapped because of a mistake by your officers.
Yet I don´t expect much from you, you´re almost as totalitarian as the Chi-Coms or Iranians: Who cares if the political enenmy disappears and is tortured for months? You certainly don´t. I can´t imagine you to be in El-Khalid´s place, but then again, I can´t imagine that you ever set a footstep outside your country.
Forget him; he must a troll, just out cruising to make Free Republic look like some haven for fascists. Ignore he and his ilk.
England, Scotland, France, Spain, Tunisia, Egypt, Israel, Greece, Sicily (no, it's not REALLY part of Italy), Italy, Panama, Mexico.
Good enough for you?
I've been here a lot longer than you.
Dear Germany,
Remember Dresden.
Signed,
USA
Trolling is trolling, no matter who does it.
> Actually, you have to thank the US that we decided not to
> use nuclear weapons on you back in the day.
Since the Germans surrendered in early May, and the Trinity explosion confirming the feasibility of the bomb weren't until July, that would have required a time machine.
On the larger point, the Germans do not owe the CIA a "right" to play cowboy on their soil or with their citizens. Nothing against black ops, but if the CIA is competent, they won't wind up in court, and if they're incompetent, the hell with them.
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