The Iranian engineer arrested on
December 16 at Milan's Malpensa airport on a US warrant,
Mohammad Abedini Najafabadi, was released shortly after 9 am on
Sunday and has allegedly already returned home, well-informed
sources have said.
Judicial sources said that, as soon as Milan's appeals court
received the request presented by Justice Minister Carlo Nordio
to revoke his arrest, the appeals judges in charge of the case
met and ordered the release of the 38-year-old.
Abedini took a flight to Tehran shortly after his release,
according to the sources.
On Sunday morning, the justice ministry said in a note that
Justice Minister Carlo Nordio had filed a request to the appeals
court of Milan to revoke Abedini's arrest.
"Minister Nordio has filed a request to the Court of Appeals of
Milan to revoke the arrest of Iranian citizen Abedini Najafabadi
Mohammad", the note said.
"Under article 2 of the extradition treaty between the
government of the United States of America and the government of
the Italian Republic, only crimes that are punishable according
to the laws of both contracting sides can lead to extradition, a
condition which, based on the state of documents, can't be
considered as existing", said the ministry.
It added that the charge pressed against Abedini of criminal
association to violate the International emergency economic
powers act - a US federal law - did not correspond to any
conduct recognized by Italian law as a crime.
Referring to two other charges against Abedini, "of 'criminal
association to provide material support to a terrorist
organization with ensuing death' and of 'provision or attempt to
provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization
with consequent death', no elements as of today support the
charges", it said.
The note explained that existing evidence only showed Abedini
was in charge, thorough companies he operated with, of the
production and trade with his country of "technological
instruments with potential, but not exclusive, military
application", according to the note.
Abedini was arrested by Italian authorities on a US warrant on
December 16, three days before Italian journalist Cecilia Sala's
detention in Tehran.
The 38-year-old engineer, who is accused of exporting drone
parts allegedly used to kill three US servicemen in Jordan a
year ago, was in a Milan jail awaiting a house arrest hearing on
January 15.
Sala, 29, a freelance reporter for Il Foglio newspaper and a
podcaster at Chora News, returned to Italy Wednesday after being
released by Iran.
Tehran has denied that it imprisoned Sala to pressure Italy into
releasing Abedini
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