JURIST - Paper Chase: Spain to investigate secret CIA prisoner transfers

[JURIST] Spanish Interior Minister Jose Antonio Alonso [profile] announced Tuesday that the country would investigate allegations [JURIST report] that US CIA planes carrying terrorism suspects made secret landings on Spanish soil before continuing to Libya, Algeria, Romania, Macedonia and Sweden. Spain's Defense Minister Jose Bono [BBC profile] said that the country had no evidence of the flights and denied that the Spanish secret service had ordered the transfers to stop. Spain's El Pais newspaper [website, in Spanish] reported ten flights allegedly occurred between January 2004 and January 2005, which included Boeing 747s and Gulfstream jets. The investigation comes after the European Union threatened sanctions [JURIST report] against European countries found to house alleged secret US prisons [JURIST report]. In addition to the report of a secret detention facility in Europe, allegations have repeatedly been made recently that the CIA has used European airspace and airports to transport terror suspects to countries where they face torture. BBC News has more.

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