August 10 Webinar
Demand Freedom for and Help Prevent the Extradition of Venezuelan Diplomat Alex Saab
Tuesday, August 10
4:00 pm PDT / 7:00 pm EDT
To register for Zoom meeting, click here.
Hosted by: Massachusetts Peace Action
Cabo Verde Court to Rule on Extradition of Venezuelan Diplomat Alex Saab to U.S.
The Venezuelan diplomat Alex Saab has been imprisoned in Cabo Verde since June 12, 2020, for trying to buy humanitarian supplies in legal international trade but in violation of illegal U.S. sanctions. He is facing extradition to the U.S. The case raises dangerous precedents in terms of extraterritorial judicial abuse by the U.S. in enforcing its unilateral coercive measures on Venezuela and 38 other countries, comprising a third of humanity.
The government of Cabo Verde, operating under U.S. orders, has ignored previous legal findings to release the diplomat from the Economic Community of West Africa regional court and from the United Nations Human Rights Committee. In addition, the INTERPOL Red Alert, which was the basis of his arrest, has been proven to be issued after he was arrested, in the name of someone else, and was subsequently cancelled. Even if the Red Alert had been executed correctly, Mr. Saab would have been exempt due to his diplomatic immunity.
The Cabo Verde Constitutional Court is expected to rule on August 13 on an appeal to reject the extradition. This comes after the Cabo Verde Supreme Court had denied Mr. Saab’s appeal last March.
If this final appeal in Cabo Verde courts fails, his legal team will continue the fight in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Florida to quash the indictment based on the defendant’s diplomatic status. As a special envoy of the Venezuelan government, Mr. Saab enjoys absolute diplomatic immunity based on the Vienna Convention and affirmed by U.S. law.
Mr. Saab is being held in complete isolation in Cabo Verde. He is in a life-threatening battle with cancer. He has been denied medical care and has been untreated since his detention.
Sign Petition to Free Alex Saab
To read and sign a petition to the governments of the United States and Cabo Verde, click here.
