Judges reject Sabrina de Sousa’s case against extradition to Italy over her role in ‘extraordinary rendition’ programme

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Portugal’s supreme court has rejected a former CIA operative’s appeal against extradition to Italy to serve a six-year sentence for her part in an “extraordinary rendition” programme.

A court official said Sabrina de Sousa’s only remaining recourse is to appeal to Portugal’s constitutional court, arguing her extradition order is unconstitutional.

De Sousa was among 26 Americans convicted in absentia in Italy for the 2003 kidnapping of an Egyptian cleric in Milan, when she was working in the country under diplomatic cover.

Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr – known as Abu Omar – was kidnapped by US agents in 2003 while walking down a street in Milan, allegedly with the knowledge and help of at least some Italian authorities.

Omar had been given political asylum in Italy in 2001 but fell under the suspicion of Italian – and, separately, US – authorities for his links to fundamentalist networks.

He was then flown to Cairo via the Ramstein US airbase in Germany, and was handed over to Egyptian authorities, who allegedly detained, interrogated and tortured him until his initial release in April 2004.



A lower court ruled in January that De Sousa should be turned over to Italy following her arrest at Lisbon airport in October on a European warrant.



De Sousa, who was born in India and holds both US and Portuguese passports, was on her way to visit her elderly mother in India with a round-trip ticket when she was detained.

The extraordinary rendition program was part of the anti-terrorism strategy of the US administration following the 9/11 attacks. Years later, Barack Obama ended the program.



De Sousa’s Portuguese lawyer, Manuel Magalhaes e Silva, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.