The lead counsel for Mr. Alex Saab at the ECOWAS court, Femi Falana has once again called on Cape Verde to immediately halt processes to extradite his client to the US to face charges there.
His call comes after a recent comment by the Attorney General of Cape Verde saying that the controversial case could have political consequences.
Falana said the new comment shows that the extradition process is being used as a political instrument.
“The public confession by the Prosecutor General on Thursday last week that the case against Alex Saab is indeed routed in political expediency is to be welcomed, however, it has considerable consequences,” Mr Falana stated.
Luís José Landim in a recent press interaction as reported by Cape Verdean news portal Noticiasdonorte said, “from the beginning, we have always said that we apply the laws of Cape Verde and the Constitution of the Republic, and not laws that one wants to impose from outside… we apply what we understand to be applicable law. Other consequences will be political, perhaps, but it is no longer up to me to answer that question. If there are other consequences, I’m sure the State will know how to react because I believe we are acting well.”
Femi Falana said the comment confirms his long-held position as well as that of Venezuela that the arrest, detention and planned extradition of Alex Saab is to the pursuit of extraterritorial judicial overreach to achieve a political policy objective.
“From the outset, both in Cape Verde and in the ECOWAS Court of Justice, my colleagues and I, as well as the authorities of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela have stressed that the arrest and detention of H.E. Alex Saab by Cape Verde at the behest of the United States is based solely on the pursuit of extraterritorial judicial overreach to achieve a political policy objective. In this case that means to satiate the pursuit of the illegal policy of regime change in Venezuela by the United States, in violation with the United Nations Charter and international law,” he said.
He said the development, in addition to the recent close of a 3-year Swiss investigation into money laundering claims against Alex Saab shows that “the ship of justice is slowly but surely turning in favour of H.E. Alex Saab.”
“Once again we call on President Biden so that the rule of law and human rights take precedence in this case over politicization and arbitrariness.”
