Cape Verde’s Attorney General Luis José Landim has confirmed that his country is under no obligation to comply with an African court’s order to place Colombian businessman Álex Saab, alleged frontman of Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro, under house arrest. place.
Landim was referring to the judgment of the Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), of which Cape Verde belongs.
The Court of Justice ruled on November 30 that this West African island country must immediately place Saab under house arrest, detained in Cape Verde since June 12 at the request of the United States, who has requested his extradition for alleged money laundering offenses.
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The businessman – who has been in police custody since June 14 – alleges health problems that require a doctor’s attention outside the prison in which he is being heldTherefore, the ECOWAS court requested that he allow home detention in order to access his family, doctors and lawyers.
However, Landim assured this Friday, after a meeting with Jorge Carlos Fonseca, the Cape Verde president, that his country has not ratified the protocol that has jurisdiction over the court in human rights matters,.
“When I spoke about that, I said I had some doubts, but now I know for sure. Cape Verde has not ratified this protocol that grants the ECOWAS court’s jurisprudence in human rights issues,” he told the press, after addressing the issue with Fonseca had discussed.
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The court, located in Abuja, Nigeria, has jurisdiction to hear individual complaints about possible human rights violations since the 2005 protocol was adopted.
Sides stressed that “there is no legal basis” for the application of the judgment of the Community judicature. “If the court does not have jurisdiction, it cannot rule on this matter,” the attorney general concluded.
The prosecutor added that the Saab case He will continue his legal proceedings in Cape Verde while the Public Prosecution Service awaits the decision of the Justice on his extradition to the United States..
Álex Saab was captured in Cape Verde on June 12. The United States is asking for his extradition.
The Barlavento Court of Appeals, located on the northern island of San Vicente, on Tuesday already refused to comply with the ECOWAS court decision on the same argument as the Attorney General.
Saab lawyers urged the Prime Minister of Cape Verde, Ulisses Correia e Silva, to abide by the order of the African court.
The lawyers even threatened to “ask the competent authority of ECOWAS to impose sanctions on Cape Verde for non-compliance with its obligations”.
If the court does not have jurisdiction, it cannot decide on this issue: the Attorney General of Cape Verde
Two days later, the Venezuelan government, which claims the businessman is a Venezuelan national, expressed “concern” about the Cape Verde authorities delaying putting Maduro’s alleged figurehead under house arrest.
The ECOWAS tribunal too admitted Saab’s status as “special envoy” of Venezuela, an argument the defense uses to claim that his arrest is illegal because “he was entitled to personal immunity” because of that status.
(The latest in the Saab case: Cape Verde denies Álex Saab’s house jail and defies the verdict)
The businessman was arrested on June 12 when his plane stopped for refueling at Amilcar Cabral International Airport on the Cape Verde island of Sal (north), following a request from the United States through Interpol for alleged money laundering. . The government and a Cape Verde court have approved the extradition of Saab, although the defense has appealed against that court’s decision to the Supreme Court.
EFE