Sabrina De Sousa, a former CIA counterterrorism officer, is facing imminent extradition to Italy for her role in the unlawful rendition of a suspected terrorist, an operation she has long denied any involvement with.
In 2003, a radical Egyptian cleric named Abu Omar was kidnapped off the streets of Milan in broad daylight, by CIA officers assisted by Italian intelligence. Omar was then flown to Egypt, where he says he was tortured. In 2009, Sabrina De Sousa and two dozen other American officials were convicted in absentia by an Italian court for their role in the rendition.
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Now facing a four-year prison term in Italy, De Sousa blames Hillary Clinton for failing to assist her back in 2012, when Clinton was serving as Secretary of State. De Sousa sent Clinton a plea for help, but she never received a reply. De Sousa has long argued that she had nothing to do with the rendition, and has appealed her extradition. But this month, a Portuguese court rejected her final legal appeal.
If De Sousa is jailed, she will be the first CIA officer ever imprisoned in connection with the Bush administration’s notorious “extraordinary rendition” program. VICE News traveled to Lisbon, Portugal to meet with De Sousa.
Read “A Radical Imam, His Alleged CIA Kidnapper, and Their 10-Year Hunt for Justice“
Read “Former CIA Officer Detained in Europe While Trying to Clear Her Name in Rendition Case”
Read “Portugal Wants to Extradite a Former CIA Officer in an Infamous Kidnapping Case”
Read “Italy Has to Pay $127,000 to a CIA Rendition Victim and His Wife”