The family of Alex Saab, leader of Nicolás Maduro, moved from Caracas to Moscow

The family of Alex Saab, considered a leader of the Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, she was transferred from Caracas to Moscow.

The move took place at the beginning of the year but was confirmed in the last hours, according to sources close to the businessman himself, according to the Colombian newspaper. Time.

The newspaper reported that, in a covert operation, the model Camilla Fabri -current Saab partner- and other members of his family left Caracas for the Russian capital with the approval of the Chavista regime.

In 2019, Fabri visited Russia after an investigation was opened in Italy for money laundering due to large movements of money through a relative and a trust in the UK.

Sources familiar with the matter said the Saab family’s trip to Russia confirms the importance of this entrepreneur for the Maduro diet.

As, Saab’s defense has again called for Cape Verdean justice, country where he remains detained, the suspension of the extradition process to the United States.

“Yesterday (last Friday), we presented a request to suspend the extradition process against Ambassador Saab before the Supreme Court of Cape Verde,” he said on Saturday in a statement. Pinto monteiro, Main lawyer for Saab in Cape Verde.

The petition came after a hearing held on February 5 before the Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS, a bloc to which Cape Verde belongs) on the man’s case. Colombian business.

This court is expected to rule on the legality of the detention and the extradition process on March 11..

“Now that Cape Verde has accepted the jurisdiction of the ECOWAS Tribunal, as evidenced by its appearance and the pleadings presented by its lawyer on February 5 at the main hearing, the Supreme Court can have no reason not to interrupt the extradition process as ordered by the ECOWAS Court on December 2, 2020, ”Monteiro said.

At the aforementioned hearing, however, the lawyer representing Cape Verde, Henrique Borges, brandish that this country does not recognize the authority of the ECOWAS Tribunal to decide in this dispute, because it has not ratified the protocol which grants jurisdiction to the court in the event of violation of human rights.

On the basis of this 2005 protocol, Saab’s lawyers filed a lawsuit in this supranational court last October, ruling that their client’s detention was illegal.

His representatives allege that the Colombian enjoys diplomatic immunity because at the time of the arrest “was on a special humanitarian mission in Iran“, acting like”Venezuelan special envoy“.

THE CHARGES AGAINST SAAB

Saab was arrested on June 12, 2020 when his plane stopped for refueling at Amilcar Cabral International Airport on the Cape Verdean island of Sal following a US request via Interpol for alleged money laundering. millions of dollars.

A month later, Cape Verdean justice authorized his extradition to the United States, a decision which his defense immediately appealed.

On January 4, the Barlavento Court of Appeals ruled to give the green light to Saab’s extradition to the United States, a decision lawyers also challenged.

The United States considers Saab a “pioneer” of Maduro and suspected of having washed – with his right hand, Álvaro Enrique Pulido – up to 350 million dollars allegedly paying for the corrupt acts of the Venezuelan president.

The accused remains in house arrest in Cape Verde since January 26, in a private residence in the tourist town of Santa María.

His defense had requested this measure from Cape Verdean justice, alleging that his state of health was “weak” due to an “existing cancerous condition”, of which no other details were provided.

(With information from EFE)

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Alex Saab, accused of being the leader of Nicolás Maduro, has been transferred to house arrest in Cape Verde