UN, EU blacklist is "not proof" of terrorist activity, court rules

Jul 24, 2007, 11:23 GMT

Rome - Being included in the United Nations' or European Union's terrorism blacklists does not in itself constitute legal proof that a defendant is indeed a terrorist as such lists are 'politically motivated', judges in Italy ruled, reports said Tuesday.

The contentious explanation accompanied a ruling by prosecutors in Milan, who dismissed terrorism charges brought against an Egyptian and an Eritrean suspect, the daily Corriere della Sera reported.

Youssef Nada and Ahmed Idris Nasreddin, two bankers linked to the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas, had been accused by police in Italy and Switzerland of funding terrorist activities on the basis of EU and UN blacklists compiled after the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.

In dropping the charges brought against them, prosecutors in Milan also noted that the investigation had not yielded sufficient solid evidence to prove that they had indeed given money to terrorist groups.

In 2005, another Milan-based judge, Clementina Forleo, raised eyebrows by acquitting three men linked to Ansar al-Islam on the grounds that 'the recruitment of volunteers to fight in Iraq against American soldiers cannot be considered under any point of view a terrorist activity'. That ruling was later overturned by Italy's Court of Cassation.

Police in Italy have arrested scores of alleged terrorist suspects since the September 11 attacks, but only a handful have actually been convicted of the charges brought against them.

The latest arrests came at the weekend, when police in central Italy apprehended three Moroccan accused of running 'a bomb school' for Islamist militants after raiding a mosque in Perugia.