U.S. Soldier's Indictment Sought in Italy

[AnOhioan]

Prosecutors have requested the indictment of a U.S. soldier over the shooting of an Italian intelligence agent at a checkpoint in Iraq last year, the ANSA news agency reported Monday.

The death of Nicola Calipari by U.S. gunfire strained relations between Italy and the United States.

U.S. authorities have said the vehicle was traveling fast, alarming soldiers, who feared an insurgent attack.

Italian officials claimed the car was traveling at normal speed and blamed U.S. military for failing to signal there was a checkpoint.

More at http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2092937

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[AnOhioan]

2. Updated story

Prosecutor Erminio Amelio has identified the U.S. soldier as Mario Lozano. Local newspapers have reported that Lozano is from New York.

Prosecutors were not immediately available to confirm ANSA's report on the indictment requests. Fabrizio Cardinali, Lozano's court-appointed lawyer, said last week he expected his client would be tried in absentia for murder and attempted murder.

Officials at the U.S. Embassy could not immediately be reached for comment.

Updated story at http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2093114

[acmavm]

3. Hmmm. Hope the Italians don't really think they'll hand him

over.

What I mean is if he's found guilty and sentenced somehow.

[Judi Lynn]

4. Italy may try US marine for shooting agent in Iraq

Italy may try US marine for shooting agent in Iraq
Mon Jun 19, 2006 5:11 PM BST

ROME (Reuters) - Italian prosecutors on Monday formally requested a trial, in absentia if necessary, of a U.S. marine accused of shooting dead an Italian intelligence agent in Baghdad last year, judicial sources said.

The marine, Mario Lozano, is accused of manslaughter and attempted double homicide in the March 2005 killing of agent Nicola Calipari, who had been escorting a newly freed Italian hostage to safety when he was shot at a checkpoint.

A judge will have to rule whether there is enough evidence for an indictment.

The governments of Italy and United States officially called the shooting an accident, but Italy's independent magistrates continued their own investigation into the politically-charged incident.

Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema, a member of Italy's new centre-left government, has criticised the U.S. failure to cooperate with the judicial probe. Investigators had sought the names of other U.S. soldiers at the Baghdad checkpoint.
(snip/...)

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-06-19T161056Z_01_L19809960_RTRUKOC_0_UK-ITALY-USA-SHOOTING.xml&archived=False

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Last Updated: Monday, 19 June 2006, 14:17 GMT 15:17 UK

Italian bid to indict US soldier

Nicola Calipari's death was mourned across Italy
Italian prosecutors have called for a US soldier to stand trial for the killing of an Italian intelligence officer in Baghdad in 2005.

Nicola Calipari, 51, was shot dead at a US roadblock while escorting Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena, who had been released by kidnappers in Iraq.

Italy and the US government disputed the circumstances of his death.

Italian prosecutors want a US marine, identified as Mario Lozano, to go on trial for the March 2005 killing.
(snip/...)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5095510.stm

[endarkenment]

5. Hopefully the trial will lead to further arrests.

The marine may have been acting under orders.

[stephinrome]

6. Italy has experience with impunity of us soldiers

see my posts here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x1460967#1461543

And also about how they learned the name of the soldier:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x1460967#1461610

Steph

[Solo_in_MD]

7. Requested the indictment...not indictied

And I don't expect there will be one.

The Italians cried so much about the lack of usable evidence turned over to them that who did what to whom will be next to impossible to prove. The US military report, at least in a US court, would be inadmissable.

Given the purely political nature of these charges, I expect them to go away...

[struggle4progress]

9. U.S. 'knew agent going to airport'

Wednesday, March 9, 2005 Posted: 11:57 AM EST (1657 GMT)

ROME, Italy (CNN) -- Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi says the intelligence agent shot dead by the U.S. military told them he would be escorting a newly released hostage to the airport -- contrary to U.S. claims.

Another Italian attache, who was at the Baghdad airport, also told U.S. military personnel the car carrying agent Nicola Calipari and journalist Giuliana Sgrena was on its way to the airport March 4 before the shooting occurred, Berlusconi told the Italian senate on Wednesday ...

On Tuesday, the top U.S. general in Iraq, Army Gen. George Casey, said he had no indication that Italian officials gave advance notice of the route the car was traveling ...
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/03/09/italy.sgrena/


Ex-hostage disputes U.S. account of shooting
Italian journalist: 'I only remember fire'
Monday, March 7, 2005 Posted: 2:17 PM EST (1917 GMT)

ROME, Italy (CNN) -- An Italian journalist shot by U.S. forces in Iraq shortly after being freed from her captors has disputed a U.S. account of the incident in which she was wounded and a security agent protecting her was killed ...

The U.S. military said Sgrena's car rapidly approached a checkpoint Friday night, and those inside ignored repeated warnings to stop ...

But in an interview with Italy's La 7 Television, the 56-year-old journalist said "there was no bright light, no signal."

And Italian magistrate Franco Ionta said Sgrena reported the incident was not at a checkpoint, but rather that the shots came from "a patrol that shot as soon as they lit us up with a spotlight." ...
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/03/06/italy.iraq/index.html/

'My truth'
By Giuliana Sgrena
Monday, March 7, 2005 Posted: 9:03 AM EST (1403 GMT)

... The car kept on the road, going under an underpass full of puddles and almost losing control to avoid them. We all incredibly laughed. It was liberating. Losing control of the car in a street full of water in Baghdad and maybe wind up in a bad car accident after all I had been through would really be a tale I would not be able to tell. Nicola Calipari sat next to me. The driver twice called the embassy and in Italy that we were heading towards the airport that I knew was heavily patrolled by U.S. troops. They told me that we were less than a kilometer away...when...I only remember fire. At that point, a rain of fire and bullets hit us, shutting up forever the cheerful voices of a few minutes earlier.

The driver started yelling that we were Italians. "We are Italians, we are Italians." Nicola Calipari threw himself on me to protect me and immediately, I repeat, immediately I heard his last breath as he was dying on me. I must have felt physical pain. I didn't know why. But then I realized my mind went immediately to the things the captors had told me. They declared that they were committed to the fullest to freeing me but I had to be careful, "the Americans don't want you to go back." Then when they had told me I considered those words superfluous and ideological. At that moment they risked acquiring the flavor of the bitterest of truths, at this time I cannot tell you the rest ...

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/03/06/il.manifesto/


Italian Journalist: U.S. Lied
Former hostage Giuliana Sgrena Who Was Shot By U.S. Soldiers In Iraq Talks To Scott Pelley
(Page 1 of 2)April 13, 2005

... Sgrena says she was less than a half-mile from the airport, when the shooting began: "Seven hundred meters more, and we are in the airport, and we will be safe and we will be in the airport. And in the same moment, started the shooting." ...

The Italian government says the Americans should’ve been prepared for Sgrena’s approach, because they say U.S. commanders were informed about the rescue mission in advance. Sgrena told 60 Minutes Wednesday that at one point, her driver was on the phone updating their progress to Italian and American officers at the airport ...

The Army has finished an investigation, but the report isn’t expected until the end of the week. The Pentagon declined to talk with 60 Minutes Wednesday, but the Army issued this statement on the night of the shooting: “Vehicle traveling at high speed refused to stop at a check point.” “attempted to warn the driver to stop by hand and arm signals, flashing white lights, and firing warning shots…when the driver didn’t stop the soldiers shot into the engine block which stopped the vehicle.”

"I think that is a lie," says Sgrena ...

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/04/12/60II/main687555.shtml


Where's the "political motivation" you claim?

[zippy890]

8. the evidence does not support US version

"The Italian magistrates say they are concentrating on ballistic evidence from the car. They say it was hit with three rounds; the second round which killed the officer was fired, they say, as the car was slowing down.

Their decision on Monday is likely to put further strain on relations between the two countries, the BBC's Christian Fraser reports from Rome. "

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5095510.stm


making enemies the world over is what bush & cronies are best at