Saab was detained on June 12 when his plane stopped for refueling at Amílcar Cabral International Airport on the northern island of Sal (the most important in this West African island country), in response to a request from the United States to through Interpol for alleged money laundering offenses.
Saab, on remand on the island of Sal, is expected to be transferred to the northern island of San Vicente this week to testify before the Barlavento Court of Appeals, the source said, without specifying the dates of the transfer and the hearing.
The appearance is related to the challenge presented by the businessman’s lawyers against the authorization that the Cape Verdean government has already given to his extradition, although the final decision corresponds to the aforementioned court.
Also read: They seize Alex Saab’s assets in Colombia, valued at more than $ 35 billion.
Cardiac accidents
The businessman’s Cape Verdean lawyers have been in Sal since last weekend, where this Monday they had their first face-to-face contact with Saab since the beginning of the process, in order to prepare their client for said hearing, which would include witnesses.
“We were also able to verify his state of mind and he presents himself as a calm man who, although he has his ups and downs, like any person in such a situation, trusts our defense strategy and the impartiality of the Cape Verdean courts,” said the same source.
The lawyers are also attentive to the state of physical health of the alleged figurehead and the source confirmed, although without indicating whether it was by administrative means or through any procedural act, that Saab “has already expressed his desire to comply with preventive detention in the home regime due to his clinical situation, which is not worrying but requires certain care “and medical supervision.
“He has already undergone a stomach operation, in a process of reducing the digestive system; he is hypertensive and often has heart accidents. On the other hand, as he is part of the risk group in relation to COVID-19, the idea is to protect him to the maximum with the appropriate sanitary measures so that it remains safe from the coronavirus, “he specified.
Regarding the case, the source pointed out that the current procedural process (the first hearing on opposition to the extradition request) in the Court of Appeals should last, in principle, fifteen days that would expire this week.
“We are called to present our evidence and answer those that are presented against us. And for that, we are going to list several witnesses, both Cape Verdeans and foreigners. Some will be heard in person, but when it is not possible, we will listen to them by videoconference”, said the source.
The extradition process must last 90 days from the date of Saab’s arrest. “As always, he added, the Cape Verde courts will decide on time and without lengthening the deadlines in an abusive manner, with respect for the rights of the defense.”
An “agent” of the Venezuelan Government
After the businessman’s arrest, Venezuela indicated that Saab is a Venezuelan citizen and an “agent” of the Government, who was “in transit” in Cape Verde to return to the country.
The defense argues that “he had the right to personal inviolability as a special envoy from Venezuela in transit through Cape Verde.”
Saab’s name appeared in the press when former Venezuelan prosecutor Luisa Ortega accused him in 2017 of being one of Maduro’s figureheads.
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 Maduro regime 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 stepsons from Maduro profited, apparently, with “hundreds of millions of dollars.”
Washington also filed charges 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 others to launder their illicit profits and transfer them from Venezuela to US bank accounts, which is why Washington has jurisdiction in the case.
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