Ex-INTERPOL director picks holes in arrest of Venezuelan diplomat Saab in Cape Verde

Rutsel Martha, a former director of legal affairs for INTERPOL, has questioned the basis for the arrest of Alex Saab, a Venezuelan diplomat, in Cape Verde, Premium Times reports.

Mr. Saab, a Colombian businessman linked to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, was reportedly arrested by police in Cape Verde in June last year on his way to Iran aboard a private jet.

According to Times Union, U.S. officials believe Saab holds many secrets about how Maduro, his family, and top aides allegedly siphoned off millions of dollars in government contracts amid widespread hunger in the oil-rich nation.

He was said to have been arrested following a Red Notice issued by INTERPOL at the request of the United States but Premium Times quotes Mr. Martha, to have said in an exclusive interview that the “conditions for the issuance of Red Notice were breached in Mr Saab’s case”.

“When a country asks for a Red Notice, it must first ratify the person. Second, it must provide the case summary and then file its request with the INTERPOL General Secretary in Lyon, France.

“According to the rules, before a Red Notice is issued, there needs to be a legal notice issued by the INTERPOL legal department. That is something that definitely takes time. The issuance period for red notice is not instantaneous, it can take at least half a day or longer before you get Red Notice, more often than not, it takes much longer than that,” Mr Martha is quoted to have said amid suspicion about the timing in the issuance of the arrest warrant.

“In this particular case, the arrest took place on 12th of June, in the evening. With the Red Notice that was issued, it states 13th of June. What you must know is that, probably what happened is that when he arrived, America sent a request to INTERPOL when they received information that he is having a stop over in Cape Verde.

“At the moment that he arrived, there was no red notice. Because they knew it’s going to take a long time, they delayed his departure and they did that in three steps.

“First, they took time to refuel his private jet. Second, they made him exit the plane which was not necessary since it was a stopover and third they made him buy a visa he didn’t need since he was not planning to enter Cape Verde.

“Those steps were designed to buy little time for INTERPOL to revert on (use) the Red Notice. I believe that before the Red Notice arrived, he had been detained for five to six hours.

“From a legal point of view, you were detained from the moment authority controls your freedom of movement. For that detention, they needed a legal backing which they didn’t have.

“Without doubt, as at the time they arrested him, there was no Red Notice from INTERPOL nor arrest warrant from Cape Verde. This makes his arrest arbitrary and illegal,” he explained.

Last week, lawyers for Mr. Saab in separate letters to the Prime Minister and the office of the National Police, Sal Regional Command, expressed concern over what they say are “wicked and arbitrary measures” being meted out to the team and its client.

The concerns included the said Red Notice issued by INTERPOL at the request of the U.S.

"...having regard to Mr. Saab’s immunity under international law, INTERPOL does not expect his provisional arrest, unless Venezuela waives the immunity. Therefore, Cabo Verde cannot rely on the Red Notice of 13 June 2020 to justify the detention of Mr. Saab," a part of the notice read.

With the aforementioned and many others, Saab’s defense team mentioned that they hoped the Cape Verdean Prime Minister “will find it appropriate to inform the parliament that Cabo Verde was not required by INTERPOL to ignore Mr. Saab status as a special envoy on mission and detain him notwithstanding his immunity under international law.”

Extradition

The U.S. government which ordered Saab's arrest says it wants him to be extradited to face charges of corruption. Venezuela, which says it has given Mr. Saab a diplomatic status is of the view that he cannot be extradited to the US because he is their diplomat and was on an assignment for them when he was arrested.

Although the Cape Verdean government has approved of the US' request, Mr. Saab is still in the country because his legal team initiated processes at the ECOWAS court to stop the extradition.

Meanwhile, the ECOWAS court has set February 4, 2021, to hear the substantive case on the extradition of Mr. Saab.