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<\/a>Joseph Dibee, a former international fugitive who pleaded guilty to the 1997 arson of a Central Oregon abattoir that sold wild horse meat to Europe, says the U.S. government is withholding information about his extradition. In an affidavit, he indicated a special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation lied when the agent said the U.S. government did not videotape the incident.<\/p>\nFBI Special Agent Timothy Suttles stated in his own sworn declaration, filed in federal court on July 14, that he was present in Havana to arrest Dibee but said there \u201cwere no videos taken by the United State Government.\u201d<\/p>\n
That differs significantly from a declaration Dibee, formerly associated with the Earth and Animal Liberation Fronts, filed in federal court last week stating that a representative with the U.S. government \u201cwas videotaping the rendition using a small silver Sony digital camera from the moment\u201d they arrived.<\/p>\n
The FBI declined to comment on the court filings, citing the open federal case. A spokesperson for Oregon\u2019s U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office, which is prosecuting Dibee, also declined to comment.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have every reason to believe based on my experience and circumstances that what the agent said isn\u2019t true,\u201d said Matt Schindler, Dibee\u2019s criminal defense attorney. \u201cWe\u2019re just going to pop in there like it\u2019s a weekend in Palm Springs and there\u2019s no paperwork, no documentation, no communication, nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/a>The federal government claims Joseph Dibee and a group of other environmental activists caused significant damage to the Cavel West horse slaughter facility in Madras, Oregon, in 1997. via Federal Bureau of Investigations<\/p><\/div>\n
After more than a decade of eluding U.S. authorities by living in Syria and Russia, Dibee was detained in Cuba in August 2018. He told\u00a0OPB in a 2021 interview that Cuban authorities tortured him during the roughly eight days he was in their custody<\/a>. For the last two years, Dibee and his attorney Matt Schindler, have pressed for more information about the circumstances leading up to Dibee\u2019s arrest and whether the FBI or other federal law enforcement agencies had a hand in his capture or in the treatment he\u2019s alleged while in Cuba.<\/p>\n Dibee was first indicted, along with other supporters of the Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front, by a federal grand jury in 2006. Between 1995 and 2001, some affiliated with the two organizations were responsible for property destruction in five western states, totaling more than $45 million. The U.S. Department of Justice has called the arsons domestic terrorism and described the movement to Congress in 2004 as\u00a0one of the greatest extremist threats facing<\/a>\u00a0the country.<\/p>\n