original title:
Ghost detainee
directed by:
cast:
Abu Omar
cinematography:
editing:
production:
country:
Italy
year:
2024
film run:
90'
format:
colour
status:
Ready (24/04/2024)
Terrorism, espionage and state secrets. These are the main elements of a much-debated and controversial story with questions that remain to be answered. For the first time, Abu Omar, former imam of the mosque on Via Quaranta in Milan, will provide his exclusive account of his extraordinary rendition by the CIA in 2003. His story contradicts the “official” version presented by figures such as General Nicolò Pollari, the former head of Italy’s national military intelligence agency, and state prosecutor Armando Spataro. Who decided to kidnap Abu Omar, carrying out an illegal operation on Italian territory in the name of the fight against terrorism? Why did the imam have to disappear? Was Italian military intelligence aware of the CIA’s plot? Was the Italian government aware? Who aided the CIA in Milan?
Twenty years after the CIA’s “extraordinary rendition” campaign—the illegal kidnapping and detention on foreign territory of alleged terrorists—the abduction of Abu Omar remains a case that still raises relevant questions. What is the moral cost of the War on Terror? Is it legitimate to violate the law in the name of national security?
The kidnapping of Abu Omar remains the only instance of extraordinary rendition to become the center of a judicial investigation, and the case has twists worthy of a political thriller. In the documentary, the interviewees will present their versions of the truth, shedding light on the many lingering questions.