The sentimental partner of the businessman Barranquilla and others of his relatives left Caracas for the capital of Russia, where they currently reside.
The future of Alex Saab is not yet determined. While the African justice system continues to evaluate the possibilities of the case, the defense tries by all possible means to stop a possible extradition to the United States. The decision is in the hands of the Cape Verde Supreme Court, which must determine whether it agrees with the Barlovento Court of Appeals, which gave the green light for Saab’s extradition to the United States on January 5. (Also Read: Eight Month Novel To Deliver Alex Saab)
However, the team of lawyers serving the Colombian businessman remains on the move and, as confirmed by the EFE office, three days ago the defenders asked the Cape Verde justice for the extradition trial of Saab, identified as an alleged Nicolás Mature frontman. “Yesterday we filed a petition to the Cape Verde Supreme Court to suspend the extradition process against Ambassador Saab,” said Pinto Monteiro, Saab’s chief attorney in Cape Verde.
The petition The petition was filed after a hearing was held on 5 February before the Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS, a bloc to which Cape Verde belongs) on the case of the Colombian businessman. What the Colombian defense explains is that Cape Verde must wait for this court to define what is related to the alleged immunity Saab enjoys as plenipotentiary ambassador to Africa, a position recently granted to him while in detention.
The truth is, while the focus is on the judicial discussion, Saab’s arrest has had other ramifications. According to El Tiempo, Italian model Camilla Fabri, a current Saab partner and other relatives of the businessman, left Caracas at the beginning of this year and settled in Moscow, Russia, with the approval of Venezuela. This medium determined that the motivation of Saab’s relatives to leave the country was that the family had been heavily guarded by a security plan since the businessman’s arrest. (You may be interested: Alex Saab: Cape Verde says it does not recognize ECOWAS African Court)
Saab was detained on June 12, 2020 when his plane stopped for refueling at Amilcar Cabral International Airport on the Cape Verde island of Sal, following a request from the United States via Interpol for allegedly laundering millions of dollars. A month later, the Cape Verde judiciary authorized his extradition to the United States, a decision against which his defense immediately appealed.
On January 4, the Barlavento Court of Appeal decided to give the green light to the extradition to the US of Saab, a decision that lawyers have also challenged. The United States sees Saab as a “front man” for Maduro and is suspected – along with his right-hand man, Álvaro Enrique Pulido – of laundering $ 350 million (about $ 296 million) to supposedly pay for the Venezuelan’s corrupt acts president. .
The defendant has been under house arrest in Cape Verde since January 26 and is staying in a private home in the tourist town of Santa María. His defense had applied for this measure to the Cape Verde judiciary, claiming that his health is “weak” due to an “existing cancer condition”, about which no further details have been provided. (Related article: Defense of Álex Saab denounces authorities delaying his release from prison)