Venezuelans on Sunday protested the continued detention of Alex Saab, the country’s special envoy and ambassador to the African Union (AU) by the Cape Verde government, on the instruction of the United States.
The protest, organized through a social media campaign, saw over 200,000 protesters holding placards with messages declaring solidarity for the embattled envoy.
Some said the arrest and continuous detention of Mr. Saab is a politically motivated action being pushed by the United States against Venezuela, who is known to be a close associate of President Nicolás Maduro.
Protesters see this as an extension of the long-running politically motivated judicial overreach by the United States against Venezuela.
Alex Saab, an ally of Nicolas Maduro, the Venezuelan president, was arrested by Cape Verde’s security operatives following a Red Notice issued by INTERPOL at the request of the United States earlier in June 2020 when his private jet had a stopover inside the Cape Verdean territory.
He was on his way to Iran for a humanitarian mission on behalf of the Venezuelan government before his arrest.
Since his arrest, Saab has been kept in Cape Verde’s government detention while political and legal struggles linger over who will take custody of the businessman between the American and Venezuelan governments.
Femi Falana, Jose M.P. Monteiro, Rutsel S. J Martha and Baltasar R. Garzon who are legal counsels to Saab approached the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) courts challenging the move to extradite their client, Saab to the US despite being a diplomat.
The ECOWAS regional court in its ruling on December 2nd, 2020 ordered the immediate release of the envoy from prison and placed him under house arrest for health reasons.
The Court also ordered that the extradition hearing be suspended in Cape Verde pending the hearing and determination of the suit before it in Abuja, Nigeria.
However, for over two months since the ruling of the ECOWAS court, the Cape Verdean authority has refused to release Saab from detention.
Alex Saab’s legal team for the ECOWAS court case recently wrote a petition calling out Cape Verdean authorities to suspend all extradition proceedings against the official until its main hearing, scheduled for February 2, in Abuja.
His other legal team also filed an application in a U.S. court planning to hear Mr Saab’s case on alleged money laundering.
