Masses in Cape Verde reject US pressure on extradition of Venezuelan diplomat

According to media reports, the protracted legal battle in
Cape Verde’s courts over the controversial extradition of diplomat Alex Saab to
the US has made most Cape Verdeans question the credibility of their own
judiciary and even the independence of their own government.
An opinion poll
conducted in Cape Verde by polling company Eduíno Santos, which was published
in September 2021, indicates that most Cape Verdeans believe that Alex Saab’s
diplomatic immunity and other legal rights were violated by their own
government and courts. The poll results are considered credible due to the
sizable sample of people surveyed across gender, age groups, and in Cape
Verde’s three largest cities, where political opinions often differ. The poll
results could also be partially verified based on voting patterns in the
country’s recent elections.
Saab was arrested at the West Africa archipelago country’s airport in June 2020
at the request of the United States Government over alleged financial crimes.
The Court of
Justice of the Economic Community of West African States
(ECOWAS), on Thursday, dismissed Cape Verde’s application for the
reversal of its earlier judgment on Venezuelan diplomat, Alex Saab.
In the earlier judgment delivered on
March 15, the regional court declared illegal the arrest and detention of the
Venezuelan diplomat.
It also ordered his release from custody,
quashed the extradition proceedings (meant to take him to the United
States) and awarded him $200,000 reparation for the violations of his human
rights by Cape Verde.
In reaction to
his arrest, the Venezuelan government said Saab was on a humanitarian mission
to Tehran, Iran, when he was arrested and accused the U.S. of attempting to
suppress the Nicolas Maduro-led administration by targeting the diplomat.
The development attracted legal and
diplomatic tussles between the two countries, with Cape Verde at the center of
it.
Russia
recently warned that the extradition of Saab would represent a “serious threat”
to the efforts of the Government and the opposition to find Ways out of the
Venezuelan crisis in the negotiations that began less than a month ago in
Mexico. “We consider the criminal prosecution of Alex Saab, who has diplomatic
status and was carrying out a humanitarian mission, politically motivated,” the
statement said. The Deputy Director of Information of the
Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry N.T. Lakhon has also said that, "Washington
appears to have decided to 'move to the next level', setting a damaging
precedent for the extradition of a person with diplomatic status. We strongly
condemn these actions, the political background of which is beyond doubt,"
he pointed out.
This official also explained that Russia considers unacceptable any attempt to apply US law extraterritorially as a mechanism for settling accounts with governments that are not submissive to Washington's designs.