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Africa News of Friday, 12 February 2021

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

Pressure mounts on Cape Verde to free Alex Saab

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Alex Saab is a businessman Alex Saab is a businessman

As lawyers for Alex Saab fight to stop his extradition and other treatments being meted out to the businessman by the Cape Verde government which they describe unfair, some social media users have joined the bandwagon inundating the platform with tweets to protest the continued detention of the Columbian national.

With the hashtag #freealexsaab, the campaign has heightened as it has become one of the top trending topics on social media in Cape Verde.

“Any difficulty the United States has with Venezuela and its Government should not be solved on the soil of Cape Verde except that the host country do not know what they're doing. Total shame for Cape Verde. They need to free Alex Saab now,” says a tweep.

“Diplomatic immunity ensures diplomats are given safe passage and are considered not susceptible to lawsuit or prosecution under the host country's laws. Playing politics with rules doesn't develop a Nation. Why did Cape Verde get involved in what she wouldn't obey?” another tweets.

The protest comes barely hours after the opposition party took on government for same.

A seemingly concerned Rui Semedo, Parliamentary Leader of African Party of Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV), while challenging the ruling party on the continued detention of Alex Saab at a Parliamentary session, Thursday, raised questions about whether or not Saab was receiving the appropriate healthcare, emphasizing that “if Mr. Alex Saab has a setback due to lack of care from the Cape Verde state, we could have very serious problems”.

Minister of Internal Administration, Paulo Rocha however said he could not offer a detailed response to the issue because it’s a court’s decision.

"I don't know why they didn't ask the courts. He is an individual who is in prison, this has nothing to do with the government. He was released from prison and put under house arrest, he is under the custody of the police, who are complying with all judicial determinations," said Paulo Rocha.

Mr. Saab, a Colombian businessman linked to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, was arrested by police in Cape Verde in June last year on his way to Iran aboard a private jet. The 49-year-old was arrested on the orders of the U.S. on allegations of corruption. The U.S. wants him extradited to face charges of corruption, but Venezuela has taken a stance against that decision as Mr. Saab’s lawyers fight to stop the process.

Femi Falana, lawyer of Mr. Saab argued at the ECOWAS court that his client who is under house arrest cannot "be subjected to imprisonment and legal proceedings by Cape Verde" because he is a diplomat of Venezuela and must be accorded all the privileges of a diplomat.

According to him, his client was on his way to discharge diplomatic duties of Venezuela in Iran when he was arrested by local police in Cape Verde. Mr. Falana at the hearing of the case on Friday, February 5, 2021, said, it was surprising that Cape Verde continued to allege that Mr. Saab is not a diplomat and that there was nothing wrong with how it has handled the businessman.

Meanwhile, Venezuela says Saab is a diplomat.



























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