The National Police, on the island of Sal, denied this Tuesday, 06 July 2021, the visit of a team of doctors from Venezuela, who traveled to Cape Verde to examine Alex Saab.
This visit was authorized on June 21 by the Court of Appeal of Barlavento, which in the order says “specialists appointed by the defense are authorized to verify the state of health of the extradited person”.
However, for this purpose, the defense must present evidence that the indicated doctors and the “oncological group” as intended. But according to the defense, the PN has another interpretation of the TRB’s order and “required that the TRB in its order include the names of the doctors in order to authorize the entry of the doctors”.
The defense presented the doctors’ credentials to PN, but the refusal remained. Sal’s PN command has another version. It argues that it is not aware of the TRB’s order of 21 June and that as soon as it is officially notified it will comply with the decision.
And everything indicates that, once again, Alex Saab will not be seen by the doctors, as they arrived on Tuesday morning on the island of Sal to and must leave tonight at the latest, because they are senior doctors and have appointments in hospitals in your country.
Between all these turns and changes, Alex Saab’s health condition, who has already lost 20 kilos, is getting worse day by day.
The visit of doctors trusted by the detainee had already been authorized by the precautionary measures of the ECOWAS Court and then confirmed by the final sentence. In June, the United Nations Human Rights Committee issued a recommendation to that effect.
On June 21, the Barlavento Court of Appeal also authorized Alex Saab to be examined by experts. But it was still not possible, more than a year later, for a cancer patient to have access to a specialist, despite the deterioration of their health status. Given this scenario, it is worth asking: what invisible hand prevents Alex Saab from being seen by a doctor he trusts?
It is another indication that judicial institutions are also spilling over, as mentioned earlier by Pangea Risk report below:
https://www.pangea-risk.com/special-report-how-the-pandemic-has-eroded-cape-verdes-political-and-judicial-institutions/
