The country has already received the US extradition request from Alex Saab. Government of the African nation says to leave the case in the hands of justice.
By:
EFE
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Cape Verde has already received the formal request from the United States for the extradition of the Colombian businessman Álex Saab, accused of multiple cases of corruption, especially by the Clap food program, a source from the Cape Verdean government confirmed to EFE on Tuesday, June 30.
The Attorney General’s Office (PGR) received this Monday, June 29, the extradition request from the US Department of Justice, the aforementioned source in Praia, capital of this West African island country, told Efe.
Saab was detained last 12th at the Amilcar Cabral international airport on the island of Sal (the most important in Cape Verde), in response to a request from the United States made through an Interpol “red alert” for money laundering crimes of money.
The Office of the Attorney General now has a period of 65 days, which starts on June 12, to respond to the US request.
“The response of the PGR will consist of a legally justified judicial opinion that will be addressed to the Government of Cape Verde, which will make its decision,” explained the same source, close to the process.
However, he added, “the final decision will rest with the court, at the Barlavento Court of Appeals, which operates on the island of San Vicente, and the defense can also appeal to the Supreme Court of Justice (STJ).”
Independence of the courts
The source was “somewhat concerned about the politicization of the case by Álex Saab’s lawyers in the Cape Verdean press”, fearing that it may “condition the opinion of the Cape Verde courts, which do not appreciate any political interference in their action “
The Cape Verdean Executive – he underlined – has maintained a position of “total distance in relation to this case”, allowing the Judiciary to do its work independently.
Although she was confident that the final decision should be favorable to extradition, the source left open the possibility of a judicial sentence against it, and in that case, the United States “will know how to understand” that ruling because it knows that in Cape Verde “the Courts act independently (…), without interference from political power or other interests. “
On the diplomatic aspects of the case, he clarified, “the United States has not attempted to influence the decision in its favor,” while “the pressure from Venezuela has been intense.”
After the arrest of the alleged figurehead, Venezuela indicated that Saab is a Venezuelan citizen and a “agent” of the Government, who was “in transit” in Cape Verde to return to the country.
This Monday, Saab’s defense filed with the STJ a new “habeas corpus” (the right of a detainee to appear before a judge or court to decide whether or not his arrest was legal, and whether it should be lifted or maintained), alleging the “illegal imprisonment” of his client.
The STJ last week rejected ruling on another “habeas corpus” filed by Saab to obtain his release, arguing the “uselessness” of that legal procedure to make his decision.
The defense was seeking the annulment of a ruling by a court in the northern island of Sal, which ordered preventive detention for the businessman on June 14.
Pretrial detention was later confirmed by a higher instance, the Barlavento Court of Appeal on the northern island of San Vicente, hence the STJ refused to decide on “habeas corpus”.
Saab’s lawyer, José Manuel Pinto Monteiro, recently told Efe that the businessman “had the right to personal inviolability as a special envoy from Venezuela in transit through Cape Verde.”
Despite keeping a low profile in Colombia, Saab’s name appeared in the media when former Venezuelan prosecutor Luisa Ortega accused him in 2017 of being one of Maduro’s figureheads.
$ 350 million laundering
Saab, born in the Colombian city of Barranquilla and of Lebanese origin, is related to several companies, including Group Grand Limited (GGL), accused of supplying surcharges to the Venezuelan Government with food and supplies for the government’s Local Supply and Production Committees ( Clap).
A US government official indicated in July 2019 that with the CLAPs, which are delivered to the poorest, the Colombian businessman and three stepchildren of Maduro profited, apparently, with “hundreds of millions of dollars.”
Washington also filed charges last July against Saab and his right-hand man, Álvaro Enrique Pulido, whom he accuses of laundering up to $ 350 million allegedly defrauded through the exchange control system in Venezuela.
According to the United States, between November 2011 and September 2015, Saab and Pulido conspired with each other to launder their illicit profits and transfer them from Venezuela to US bank accounts, which is why Washington has jurisdiction in the case.
His arrest occurred after the Colombian Public Prosecutor’s Office imposed precautionary measures on the 9th of June for the expropriation of eight properties that “would be part of Saab’s illicit heritage”.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office, these assets have a value of 35,000 million pesos (about 9.7 million dollars) and are in Barranquilla.
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