Alex Saab
June 12, 2021 marks a year after the arrest and detention of Venezuelan Alex Saab.
Mr. Saab is being held in Cape Verde while the legal tussle for his release or extradition to the US goes on.
The man who prior to this case was not a known name in international news was on his way to Iran to secure food and medical supplies on the said day when he was arrested by local police in Cape Verde on the orders of the US.
His aircraft had stopped in the island country to refuel when he was arrested.
The developments since then has been hinged on two main issues, whether the arrest was legal and whether Cape Verde has the right to extradite him to the US.
The US wants him to be brought to America to face charges of alleged money laundering and corruption.
It, therefore, under the leadership of former president Donald Trump, requested of Cape Verde to send him over but his lawyers are challenging the move.
Venezuela speaks
When news of his arrest broke, Venezuela immediately condemned the action by Cape Verde, arguing that the arrest was in violation of international norms and could be considered as an act of aggression against the Venezuelan people by the US government.
"[The action] clearly corresponds with the actions of aggression and siege against the Venezuelan people, undertaken by the government of the United States with the aim of abruptly affecting and interrupting efforts on behalf of the Bolivarian government, aimed at guaranteeing the right to food, health and other basic rights of the Venezuelan people,” it said in a statement.
Lawyers mount defence
Lawyers for Mr. Alex Saab also made the case that the businessman, who is closely associated with the Maduro regime was a Special Envoy for Venezuela hence has diplomatic immunity.
On the extradition, the lawyers said there is not treaty between the US and Cape Verde on extraditions and so found it surprising that Cape Verde will accept an extradition request.
Femi Falana, a lawyer for Alex Saab filed a human rights case at the ECOWAS Court to challenge the decision of Cape Verde and the legality of its action.
“Cape Verde’s wilful violation of its own laws, and customary international law, will also tarnish the ECOWAS region’s commitment to upholding the highest standards of human rights and legal protections," Baltasar Garzón, a former Spanish judge and one of the attorneys on the case, said at the time.
The ECOWAS court in ruling ECW/CCJ/RUL/07/2020 in November 2020 said the arrest of Alex Saab was in violation of the Vienna Conventions on diplomatic relations.
It therefore directed that Alex Saab be moved from prison to house detention and given access to proper medical attention.
The Chief Medical Officer of Rutherford Health in the UK, Karol Sikora, a cancer special who was to attend to him was prevented from Cape Verdean authorities despite a warning that the detainee could be left with dire consequences should he not receive attention.
Saab made AU representative
The government of Venezuela on December 24, 2020 communicated their decision to appoint Alex Saab as its Alternate Permanent Representative to the African Union (AU).
“What is clear is that the African Union considers the immunity of high-ranking officials as something to be taken seriously. It therefore stands to reason that the African Union will expect all its member States, including Cabo Verde, to respect the international status of representatives of governments accredited to the organisation. These now include Mr Alex Saab,” Rutsel Martha, a member of Mr Saab’s defense team, said in December.
Cape Verde court order
The Cape Verdean court had authorized the extradition of Alex Saab to the US but Mr. Saab's legal team filed an appeal and made the case that the move was unprecented and alien to Cape Verde's judicial system.
ECOWAS hearing
Before the ECOWAS court for another hearing on the case, Henrique Borges, an attorney for the government of Cape Verde said the ECOWAS court lacks jurisdiction over the matter because Cape Verde did not assent the Additional Protocols of the ECOWAS court during the ECOWAS meeting in 2005.
He also said there was no evidence to prove Alex Saab’s diplomatic status hence the actions taken by the government were justified.
But Femi Falana said the argument was faulty.
“Cape Verde cannot claim that Alex Saab is not a diplomat as he is a Special Envoy to Iran and recognised in that role by Iran," he argued.
"“Under the provisions of the Additional Protocol 2005, if 9 States Members sign it, it becomes binding for all the States Members of ECOWAS. In this case, 14 out of 15 member states signed with the only one not signing was Cape Verde and that was only because its Prime Minister at the time had to return to Cape Verde to deal with an emergency… Cape Verde has not at any time since, expressed any discomfort with the protocols, at the material time [they] fully participated in the discussions to agree the protocols,” Falana stressed.
ECOWAS court final ruling
On March 15, 2021, the ECOWAS court delivered a final judgement on the matter. The court concluded that the arrest and detention of Alex Saab was arbitrary and illegal.
It therefore directed Cape Verde to release the businessman, stop any extradition processes against him and compensate him with $200,000.
“We found that his arrest was arbitrarily done by the criminal police of Cape Verde,” the court ruled.
Cape Verde urged to comply
Femi Falana in view of the judgement wrote to President Jorge Fonseca of Cape Verde and Prime Minister, José Ulisses de Pina Correia e Silva asking them to comply with the ECOWAS court's ruling immediately.
“As an important member State of the African Union and the ECOWAS, the Republic of Cabo Verde has both legal and moral responsibility to respect the sanctity, integrity, authority and independence of the community court of Justice,” he said in his letter.
“Having fully participated in the ECOWAS Court’s process (as evidenced by the attendance and participation of your counsel Dr Henrique Borges on both 5 February and 15 March) and therefore submitted to the jurisdiction of the ECOWAS Court, we would expect your immediate compliance with the Honourable Court’s decision,” Falana added.
Counter-ruling in Cape Verde
But in a counter-ruling, the Supreme Court of Cape Verde days later approved the extradition of Alex Saab.
The court was of the view that since Cape Verde was not a signatory to the 2005 Protocol that established the ECOWAS Court, it cannot be bound by the court's decision.
“For all the reasons that are exposed to the thesis that intends to see ECOWAS a supranational organisation for the purposes of the provisions of article 12, paragraph 3, of the Constitution of the Republic, it cannot be accepted by the Cape Verdean Judicial Courts,” the court ruled.
Falana calls for sanction against Cape Verde
Following the Cape Verdean court's decision, Femi Falana filed a motion at the ECOWAS Commission seeking sanctions against Cape Verde over what he believes is the show of disrespect for the sub-regional body.
He said travel ban on some top Cape Verdean officials including the president and vice president be imposed throughout the ECOWAS while the granting of loans and other assistance to Cape Verde also be stopped.
He also requested that Cape Verde be banned from nominating candidates for statutory and professional posts in ECOWAS and its voting rights be withdrawn.
Probe in Switzerland dropped
Not long after Falana's move, a three-year-long probe into allegations of money laundering against Alex Saab in Switzerland was closed.
The attorney investigating the case that the evidence found was not solid grounds for prosecution.
The probe was started after some banks in Switzerland lodged various complaints of their suspicion of illegal deals.
UN Human Rights Commission
The UN Human Rights Commission after receiving earlier in June also asked Cape Verde to cease all processes at extraditing Alex Saab to allow it time to look into the case after its attention was brought to it.
A signed by Helene Tigroudja and Arif Bulkan, both Human Rights Committee Special Rapporteurs on New Communications and Interim Measures, said pursuant to rule 94 of the Committee’s rules of procedure, Cape Verde must comply with the action as well as ensure that Mr. Saab receives medical attention from a physician of his choice.
"The State party has been requested to refrain from extraditing Mr. Alex Nain Saab Moran to the United States of America while his case is under consideration by the Committee or until further notice," excerpts of the letter read.
While indicating that its directives may change based on the availability of new information on the case, it gave Cape Verde up to February 2022 to respond to the claims brought against it.