Human rights lawyer cum activist who doubles as the lead ECOWAS counsel for the Venezuelan diplomat, Alex Saab, has reacted to the admission of the Attorney General of Cape Verde, José Landim, that the travails of Alex Saab is politically motivated thereby called for the termination of the extradition process to the US by Cape verdian government and also his unconditional release.
Falana In a 6-paragraph press release signed by his law firm, Falana & Falana Chambers on Moday, described the whole extradition as heavily politicized by the Cape verdian authority.
The release noted that, “indeed, new evidence confirm the pure political instrumentalization of the procedure of extradition”.
Falana’s call is coming 3 days after the Chief law officer of Cape Verde, Landim description of the extradition process of Alex Saab as politically undertoned and also admitted that Cape Verde may face consequences for incessant flouting of ECOWAS orders which favored the detained diplomat.
The legal titan in the release added that, politically motivated extradition are not “compatible with human rights law and international law, such acknowledgement by the Prosecutor General confirm not only the illegitimate and illegal nature of the extradition procedure, but also, once again, the arbitrary nature of the detention of diplomat Alex Saab”.
“From the outset, both in Cape Verde and in the ECOWAS Court of Justice, my colleagues and I, as well as the authorities of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela have stressed that the arrest and detention of H.E. Alex Saab by Cape Verde at the behest of the United States is based solely on the pursuit of extraterritorial judicial overreach to achieve a political policy objective. In this case that means to satiate the pursuit of the illegal policy of regime change in Venezuela by the United States, in violation with the United Nations Charter and international law” Falana stated.
Also, Saab defence counsel urged President Joseph Biden of US and Cape Verdean authorities to allow the rule of law to take its course over the matter.
“Once again we call on President Biden so that the rule of law and human rights take precedence in this case over politicization and arbitrariness. We call on the political authorities in Cape Verde to release Ambassador Alex Saab without any further delay.”
Cape Verde Could Face Political Consequences For Disobeying ECOWAS Court Ruling—Country’s Attorney General
The Attorney General of Cape Verde, José Landim, on 3rd of June, 2021 said the extradition process of Venezuelan diplomat, Alex Saab is politically influenced.
According to Platform Times, the Attorney General, whose office is responsible for executing the decision of the Government of Cape Verde to extradite Alex Saab to the United States, was among the country’s political office holders initially fronting the legal case against Saab.
In a document published by Premium Times in January 2021, Landim had registered that the country is not in agreement with the body on the supplementary protocol on the ECOWAS court that empowers the code to entertain human right ramifications.
But, Landim in a latest comment back-tracked, as he highlighted possible political consequences for Cape Verde.
The Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States (ECCJ) ruling on Alex Saab’s case, on 15 March, said the arrest of the diplomat was illegal, having been carried out without an appropriate Interpol Red Notice or arrest warrant.
It ordered Cape Verde to immediately release Saab, terminate extradition processes, and pay him $200,000 by way of compensation.
Aside from the ECOWAS judgement, the Geneva prosecutor’s office has also dropped the money laundering charges initially levelled against him.
In early 2018, the Geneva Public Prosecutor began an investigation into alleged money laundering by Alex Saab.
The investigation has now been terminated after three years with the Geneva Public Prosecutor concluding that the charges against Saab lack sufficient evidence to nail him on the count of money laundering “…there is no additional element to continue the investigation on the count of Money Laundering…”. It was submitted that Alex Saab’s legal costs in relation to the investigation be compensated.
Background To Saab’s Arrest
The Venezuelan born diplomat, Saab was arrested, during a stop over on his way to Iran in June last year, which according to credible sources was based on the request of the Donald Trump led United States government over allegations of money laundering, a move the Venezuelan government faulted with claims that the businessman is its special envoy on a humanitarian mission.
The Venezuelan government claimed that before his arrest, Saab had been on a mission to get food and medical supplies in Iran, stopping over in Cape Verde where he was arrested by security operatives.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login