A former CIA agent allegedly involved in the kidnapping of an Egyptian terrorism suspect in Milan is to be extradited back to Italy to face a six-year jail sentence.
Sabrina De Sousa, who was convicted in absentia in Italy in 2009, is the first US citizen to have been arrested for taking part in the “rendition” of terrorism suspects. She told The Times that she will have the right to an appeal against her sentence after she is extradited from Portugal. The case could reveal embarrassing details about the controversial US policy and the covert actions of senior CIA officials.
“Italy gave Portugal guarantees that I would have a chance at an appeal with new evidence,” she said. It was not clear whether she would be placed in custody in Italy.
Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr, an Egyptian cleric known as Abu Omar, was pushed into a car in Milan in 2003 and flown to a US airbase in Germany before being sent to Egypt, where he claims he was tortured as part of the US crackdown on Islamic extremists after the September 11 attacks in 2001. Italy convicted him in absentia in 2013 of terrorism offences.
After an unprecedented investigation by Italian magistrates, 23 Americans were convicted for their role in the operation after they had returned to the US.
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Ms De Sousa was working in Milan for the CIA under diplomatic cover and has said that she was only marginally involved in the kidnapping. She did not have diplomatic immunity and was arrested when she flew into Portugal in October to see relatives en route to visiting her mother in India. “I understood the risks,” she said. “But the other option was never seeing my family again.”
Ms De Sousa, who resigned from the CIA in 2009, has claimed that she was left unprotected by her former employer after she spoke out against the rendition policy, under which suspects were picked up around Europe and flown in secret to countries where they could be subjected to “enhanced interrogation”.
“Senior US officials who authorised the Milan rendition have never been prosecuted,” she said. “This despite publicly acknowledging their authority and support of the programme.”
Ms De Sousa said that the extradition process would start today, although she was unsure when she would be flown to Italy. If she is given a chance to appeal once in Italy the revelations in court could prove embarrassing not only for the US but also for Italy, which allegedly backed the rendition.
If President Mattarella chooses to pardon her, Italy could face accusations of double standards as it demands that Egypt bring to justice police officers widely suspected of killing Giulio Regeni, an Italian student.
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Omar has sought clemency for Ms De Sousa, writing to Mr Mattarella asking him to pardon her, according to Adnkronos, an Italian news agency. The cleric noted that he was prevented from seeing his mother when he was jailed in Egypt, just as Ms De Sousa had been unable to visit her mother. “I don’t want what happened to me to happen to her,” he wrote.