“Absolutely Illegal”: Baltazar Garzon on Alex Saab’s Case (Cape Verde)
The Spanish lawyer Baltasar Garzón, a member of the international defense team of businessman Alex Saab who was arrested under irregular circunstances last month in Cape Verde, Africa, recently alleged that the United States (USA) government is determined to illegally prosecute his client because it intends to reach President Nicolás Maduro through him.
“The process that from the beginning has been absolutely illegal, is being used to ensure that Saab is extradited to the United States, where he will be used as a means to an end, which is to reach the president of Venezuela,” said the former Spanish judge in an interview with Voice of America.
“Since Saab’s arrest on June 12, the businessman has been hampered by a series of irregularities, which we consider serious, a real political persecution, in which the United States and Venezuela are confronting each other,” explained the lawyer.
In his judgment and knowledge, there are no grounds to the accusation, “we did not have access to all the information and if what exists is what appears in the extradition process, we have to say that it is a construction implemented to ensure that Saab is extradited and to use him as a means to a (US) political end.”
Baltazar Garzon said that “the US accusation is absolutely unfounded. It does not correspond to reality, the jurisdictional title they used is not valid and the facts of those who accuse him were the subject of open investigations in Ecuador and also in Venezuela.
GarzĂłn admitted that the accusation has a lack of proportionality in the processing, due process and human rights are not respected, nor are there any procedural guarantees in case he is transferred to the North American country.
It is important to remember that Saab was irregularly captured by Cape Verde authorities without a proper Interpol red alert, while he was on his way to Iran to secure food for the Venezuelan food program known as CLAP. Saab was invested with diplomatic immunity with all the proper documentation identifying him as a Venezuelan especial diplomatic envoy.
Featured image: Judge Baltazar Garzon. File photo.
(La IguanaTV) with OT content
Translation: OT/JRE/EF
