“The Supreme Court of Cape Verde has declared that Alex Saab is free. It has now said on
several occasions that because he is under house arrest then he is not ‘in prison,” said Dr Jose
Manuel Pinto Monteiro in Praia today.
Dr Monteiro went on to say. “My colleagues, along with many rational-thinking Cape
Verdeans, have been puzzled by this description for some time. Whilst Alex Saab is no longer
in a 2×2 metres cell in solitary confinement, the public and global community of civilised
nations must be made aware that his current “freedom” means he lives in a house watched
by 50 heavily armed guards who all have keys to the house, who are all able to enter his house
at any time day or night, all of whom like to engage and disengage their machine guns
whenever they pass by Mr Saab as a reminder of the true extent of his “freedom” and Mr Saab
cannot lock any of his private area doors including the bathroom. Importantly, he cannot leave
the house at any time just as if he were in prison.”
He further commented “Today we have learned that in the house next door which houses Mr
Saab’s armed guards the local police in conjunction with external partners, have for some time
now been listening to Mr Saab’s private conversations with not only his sister but also to
privileged conversations between Mr Saab and his local lawyers. We denounce this violation
of Mr Saab’s basic and fundamental human rights in the strongest possible terms. The defense
calls upon the leadership of the ECOWAS Community, the African Union and the United
Nations Human Rights Council to join the defense team in condemning this outrageous and
illegal conduct by Cape Verde.”
Dr Jose Manuel Pinto Monteiro concluded “So now we know what the Supreme Court meant
when it said, “Alex Saab is free.” It means he is free to be psychologically tortured, free to be
detained without a warrant, free to be denied access to the health care he requires, free to be
denied justice and free to be dehumanised by a Cape Verde justice system that has been
sacrificed by the Prime Minister, the Minister of the Interior and the Prosecutor General at the
altar of political expediency.”
