Italy Refuses To Extradite Ex-Venezuela Oil Chief

Rome, Sept 21 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 21st Sep, 2021 ) :Italy has refused to extradite Rafael Ramirez, an opponent of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and former head of the state oil firm, to face embezzlement charges back home, his lawyer said Tuesday.

Two months after a recommendation to send him back, "the (Italian) Court of Appeals rejected the extradition request" made by Venezuela, Ramirez's lawyer Roberto De Vita told AFP.

In addition, the court "recognised that nobody could be extradited to that South American country because it violates human rights".

Once seen as a potential heir to Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, Ramirez is accused by the government of "embezzlement, money laundering and criminal association".

A former energy minister who also ran the national oil company PDVSA between 2004 and 2014, he resigned in December 2017 as Venezuela's ambassador to the United Nations.

He stepped down after offering "open criticism of the economic and social policies" of Maduro's government, according to a previous statement by his lawyers.

Ramirez "accused the current government of destroying the country's economy and turning Venezuela into a bloody dictatorship".

His lawyers claimed his extradition would pose a "risk for the freedom and even for the life" of Ramirez, who has an Italian wife.

Ramirez claims the charges are politically motivated.

However, Venezuela's attorney general, Tarek William Saab, in 2018 accused Ramirez of being "one of the main corrupt persons, (responsible) for the bankruptcy due to corruption" of the oil group".