Italian court drops murder case against US soldier

Source: Reuters




Read more: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L25344977.htm

Source: The Scotsman

Italian court drops murder case against US soldier
By Phil Stewart

ROME (Reuters) - An Italian court on Thursday dropped a murder trial against a U.S. soldier who killed an Italian intelligence agent in Iraq for lack of jurisdiction, removing a thorn from relations between Rome and Washington.

U.S. soldier Mario Lozano, 38, was being tried in absentia for shooting Italian agent Nicola Calipari at a checkpoint outside Baghdad airport in 2005. Calipari had been escorting a newly freed Italian hostage out of Iraq.

"I feel like there's a weight off my shoulders," Lozano told Reuters. "I could sleep easier now even though I have to still live with the fact I was involved in (taking) an innocent man's life."

The Pentagon also welcomed the decision, saying it believed the case should never have gone to court in the first place.



Read more: http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=1705972007

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Further into the article, it gets more interesting... like the last three paragraphs.

:wtf:

Of course it should have gone to court. An innocent man was murdered. x(

How nice.

x(

Source: EarthTimes

ROME, Oct. 25 An Italian judge acquitted a U.S. soldier Thursday of killing an Italian intelligence agent in Iraq, saying Italy did not have jurisdiction.

Prosecutor Franco Ionta said the reason behind the judges decision would be made public within a few weeks, CNN said.

An Italian judge indicted Spc. Mario Lozano of the New York Army National Guard on charges of homicide and attempted homicide in the fatal shooting of Italian intelligence agent Nicola Calipari, killed shortly after he secured the release of journalist Giuliana Sgrena from Iraqi insurgents.

<snip>

U.S. soldiers opened fire on the vehicle ferrying Calipari and Sgrena as it approached a checkpoint en route to Baghdad International Airport. A U.S. investigation found the vehicle was traveling fast and didn't stop at a checkpoint as ordered, concluding no disciplinary action should be taken.

Read more: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/130613.html

Saying Italian courts don't have jurisdiction to try the case doesn't mean he was exonerated.

"If it wasn't for Sgrena, the situation would not have happened," Lozano said. "She went out there, she wanted to mingle with the terrorists and all that. ... She knows that if she is going to talk to terrorists, she knows there is a 99 percent chance she will get caught. ... It's her fault that this is happening -- not my fault."