[JURIST] An Italian judge Friday rejected government arguments [JURIST report] that Italian prosecutors had overstepped their authority in bringing charges against 26 US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) agents and two former Italian intelligence officials for the 2003 abduction and rendition [JURIST news archive] of Egyptian cleric Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr [JURIST news archive; Wikipedia profile]. The case is scheduled to go to trial June 8. The CIA agents will be tried in absentia since the US has refused extradition. Marco Mancini [Wikipedia profile] and former Military Intelligence and Security Service (SISMI) commander Niccolo Pollari [Cooperative Research profile] also face charges. UPI has more.

Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, was seized on the streets of Milan, supposedly by CIA agents with the help of SISMI. Nasr was then allegedly transferred to Egypt and turned over to Egypt's State Security Intelligence (SSI) [Wikipedia backgrounder], where he was allegedly tortured before being released [JURIST reports] in February 2007. The same month, an Italian judge issued indictments [JURIST report] for 26 CIA agents and five SISMI officials, including Pollari, for their alleged role in the abduction. The Italian government sought to cancel the indictments [JURIST report] last month.