“The Ambassador is surrounded by soldiers and police who live in the gang and monitor him 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. These soldiers carry machine guns even when they sell food“.
This is one of the sections of a statement from the defense of Álex Saab, pointed out Nicolás Maduro’s ringleader, in which they complain about the conditions of his house arrest, a benefit they have been claiming since December: “The conditions are more restricted. than those that no Green has historically made available to convicted criminals. “
(We invite you to read: Cape Verde launches warnings on extradition of Alex Saab in May)
His defense, which is now called an ambassador, says he “wishes to state that the conditions of his house arrest are completely irregular, and continue to directly affect his health and his right to defense, and are considerably worse than those granted in the past to drug traffickers convicted in Cape Verde “.
(You may be interested: Alex Saab was transferred to a secret location, heavily guarded) The new complaints come 48 hours after the Supreme Court, which has extradition in hand, warned that the process is in its final phase and that the legal schedule has been met.
This is the Hilton Hotel in Cape Verde where Saab said it was going to be moved.
From l’Marriot to ‘the fortress’
TIME had already anticipated that Saab, prosecuted for a mega-operation of money laundering linked to the Maduro regime, was complaining about house arrest.
Nearby sources told this newspaper that he was aiming to be in the presidential suite of luxury Cape Verde Hotel Marriot. And he ended up in a fortress where they don’t take their eyes off him.
(Also: Attention: Alex Saab is granted house arrest)
“As for their ability to communicate with their lawyers and their families, the conditions are more restricted than those that Cape Verde has historically made available to convicted criminals (…) Internet access is prohibited, he cannot write to his family without the correspondence being read by the police and, as to his right to have privileged conversations with his lawyers, these can only take place with drones flying over the place if
they go out in the yard, ”the defense says.
Baltasar Garzón, a former Spanish judge, continues to insist that Saab has alleged immunity.
Controlled communications and drones
Before, Saab could call the family every day. Now, according to his defense, the only phone he can use is one that belongs to the police. And during the two hours of permitted use of the cell phone, a member of the police must be present.
“You have been denied access to the Internet, you can’t write to your family without it
that the correspondence be read by the police and, as for their right to hold privileged conversations with their lawyers, these can only take place with drones flying over the place if they go out into the yard, ”they say.
(Also: What does the US say about Saab being Maduro’s plenipotentiary ambassador?)
In addition, they insist that the medical care of the defendant remains precarious.
“To date, applications to be examined by specialist doctors of your choice remain unanswered,” they point out.
In December, Nicolás Maduro named Saab his plenipotentiary ambassador to Africa in an attempt to protect him with alleged immunity.
Diplomatic or fugitive?
According to the defense, this is a direct challenge to the order of the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice, but it goes against all accepted rules of house arrest for an unconvicted person and certainly unacceptable to a diplomatic agent “.
(See here all the articles of the EL TEMPS Research Unit)
But for U.S. justice it is clear that Saab is not a plenipotentiary ambassador (a post that was awarded to him at the last minute) and that he also has no immunity.In fact, a government that is not recognized by more than 60 countries and by the new Biden administration, cannot claim such procedural privileges.
In addition, the deployment of judicial, diplomatic and media mechanisms to release Saab, confirm that it is a key tab of the regime. In fact, his defense says he replaced Maduro who could not travel to Iran due to the pandemic.
RESEARCH UNIT
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