Terrorist suspects released
01 January 2003
Twenty eight Pakistanis were arrested in Naples on 31 January 2003, accused of "international terrorism" after explosives, false documents and marked maps of Naples were found in the house which the migrants, many of whom were street vendors, used as a dormitory. They were suspected of planning terrorist attacks with possible targets including a British Admiral, Sir Michael Boyce. The suspects denied links to any of the confiscated material, and after the arrests, Pakistan reportedly presented a formal complaint to the Italian ambassador in Islamabad saying that the men "did not have any terrorist links". The 28 suspects were released on orders from a Naples investigating judge, Ettore Favara, on 12 February. Favara argued that the supporting evidence was "confused and unclear", and that "elements collected...can only lead to a considerable reduction in the seriousness of the evidence regarding the [persons] concerned". He also noted that the building was managed by a man linked to the Giuliano family (involved in Neapolitan organised crime, the Camorra) in an area "where it is reasonable to hypothesise that there is almost complete control...by the clans of the area". Favara criticised the handling of the raid, claiming that "it would have been desirable that the searches and confiscations...should have been carried out on an individual basis, with a clear indication of the person from whom material was confiscated...", and that fingerprint tests were not carried out on the confiscated materials.
Pakistan's ambassador in Rome claimed that Pakistani citizens had been randomly arrested without grounds for suspicion in recent months. A number of operations have resulted in the arrest of citizens of Islamic countries in Italy on charges of "international terrorism", some of which have proved unfounded. 15 Pakistanis suspected of being part of Lashkar i Jhangvi, an organisation accused of links with al Qaeda, have been in prison in Caltanissetta (Sicily) for over five months as a result of an operation conducted on the night of 4-5 August on a Romanian ship, the Sara. They were crew members that should have disembarked in Tripoli, the ship's previous port of call. Misteri d'Italia newsletter reports that the arrests were based on the confiscation of false passports and the testimony of one of the Romanian sailors, who claims that he heard the Pakistanis talking between themselves, and that they were Talibans. However, the sailor does not speak Urdu.
Four Moroccan citizens and Italian pensioner Germano Caldon, a former art history professor from Padua, were arrested on 19 August 2002 accused of "subversive association" and "terrorism" as part of a suspected plot to carry out an attack on the San Petronio basilica in Bologna. The Moroccans, who hold residence permits and work in Italy, were suspected of planning an attack due to some comments made by the two of the men, Abdallah Wakouz and Lahacem Essaghir, when the five men visited the church. The comments referred to bin Laden, and when a better time to visit the church would be. A day after the arrests and renewed media panic over terrorism, the five were released. Prosecuting magistrate Paolo Giovagnoli withdrew his request for "preventative custody" after Caldon had explained that he suggested the visit as the four Moroccans had to collect some documents in the Moroccan consulate in Bologna. The prosecuting magistrate admitted that "at this point, the precondition leading [us] to believe that it was a visit to prepare an attack no longer exists" although the five remain under investigation.
A number of foreign nationals had also been arrested in June on suspicion of planning to bomb the church, famous for the frescoes on its ceilings, one of which depicts the prophet Mohammed in a region of Dante's inferno. All those detained were released, as investigating magistrates noted that allegations of an imminent bombing were "nonsense".
Guardian 8.2.03; Repubblica 12.2.0