Venezuela Says Diplomat Alex Saab 'Kidnapped' By US 'In Complicity With Cape Verde'

MEXICO CITY (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th October, 2021) The extradition of Venezuelan diplomat Alex Saab from Cape Verde to the United States is against the law and could be classified as kidnapping, Alfred Nazareth, Venezuelan Vice President of Communication, Culture and Tourism says.

Saab, who had been detained in Cape Verde since June 2020, left the country on Saturday aboard a plane bound for the United States, where he will stand trial in Florida, according to Caracol radio.

"The Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela denounces the kidnapping of the Venezuelan diplomat Alex Saab by the Government of the United States, in complicity with Cape Verdean authorities," Nazareth said in a Saturday statement.

He accused Cape Verde of violating Saab's human rights for "almost 500 days," during his arbitrary detention without an arrest warrant or due process.

Saab was arrested in Cape Verde last year on a US extradition warrant connected to accusations of Iran sanctions violations. In September, the Constitutional Court of Cape Verde rejected an appeal by Saab's lawyers, thereby supporting his extradition to the United States.

Saab's legal defense team has called the extradition a violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

Saab was en route to Iran on a humanitarian mission for the Venezuela government when he was arrested during a fuel stop in Cape Verde.