Nov. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Twenty-two suspected CIA agents and an American military official were convicted by an Italian judge for kidnapping a Muslim cleric in the first court case challenging the U.S. policy known as extraordinary rendition.

Robert Seldon Lady, the Central Intelligence Agency’s former Milan station chief, was sentenced to serve eight years in prison by Judge Oscar Magi. Three Americans were given diplomatic immunity, including the CIA’s former Rome station chief Jeff Castelli.

The rest of the Americans received five-year sentences. All 26 were tried in absentia and can appeal twice before the convictions are considered definitive.

Egyptian-born Osama Mustafa Hassan Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, was abducted on a Milan street in 2003 by the U.S. agents with support from their Italian counterparts, lead prosecutor Armando Spataro said. He was then flown to Egypt where he was tortured during questioning about alleged ties to terrorists and spent four years in a Cairo prison. The judge awarded Abu Omar 1 million euros ($1.5 million) in damages, and the cleric’s wife was given 500,000 euros.

“No former or present Italian law permits the secret services together with the CIA to carry out a kidnapping,” Spataro said today during final remarks to the court before deliberations began. “Kidnapping and torture will never help in the fight against terrorism. The illegal procedures instead will help extremists gather new followers.”

ABC Interview

One of those convicted today, former CIA officer Sabrina deSousa, said in an interview with ABC News that the U.S. “broke the law” in kidnapping the cleric. “We are paying for the mistakes right now, whoever authorized and approved this,” she told ABC News.

While deSousa in the interview wouldn’t confirm her role in the kidnapping, she said her status as a State Department diplomat should have protected her. The U.S. declined to invoke diplomatic immunity for her, she said.

The ruling was the first successful court challenge of the Bush administration’s practice of extraordinary rendition, in which terrorism suspects were abducted and sent to another country for questioning that often involved coercion or torture. The practice was implemented after the Sept. 11 attacks and at times carried out with the support of local governments.

Both current Premier Silvio Berlusconi and former Prime Minister Romano Prodi unsuccessfully sought to have the Milan case stopped on national security grounds.

Under Surveillance

Abu Omar was under surveillance by Italian police at the time of his abduction, and would likely be in jail in Italy for inciting terrorism had he not been kidnapped, Spataro said.

The sentences against the 22 suspected American agents and the former commander of the Aviano Air Force Base, Joseph L. Romano III, total 118 years.

The court ordered the seizure of a home owned by Lady in Penango, a small town in the countryside in northwest Italy. Castelli’s lawyer, Matilde Sansalone, praised the decision to award diplomatic immunity to her client.

Italy’s former spy chief, Nicolo Pollari, and his former No. 2 Marco Mancini were cleared in the case because they are protected by Italian state-secrecy laws, the judge said. Three other Italians were acquitted on the same grounds, while two were convicted.

Spataro had sought 12 years for Lady and 13 years for Castelli. The prosecutor asked for 13 years for Pollari.

George Little, a CIA spokesman, declined to comment on the case. A spokeswoman for the American embassy in Rome had no immediate comment.

To contact the reporters on this story: Steve Scherer in Rome at scherer@bloomberg.netTommaso Ebhardt in Milan at tebhardt@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 4, 2009 19:59 EST