Femi Falana, Counsel to the detained Venezuelan diplomat, Alex Saab, has asked the Cape Verde Government to respect the ruling of ECOWAS Court by releasing his client from a house prison.
The regional court ordered the release of Mr Saab from the Island’s detention and awarded him $200,000 as compensation for his ‘illegal arrest and detention’ but the Cape Verde Government had ignored all legal notices and several requests for discussions by the Venezuelan authorities.
Until January 2021 when Mr Saab was moved from prison to house arrest, the Cape Verdean Government had kept him in a house prison with a guard against the December 2, 2020 ruling of the regional court to release him with compensation. Prior to January 2021, Mr. Saab was in one of the hardest prisons in Cape Verde and was refused medical attention.
The Attorney General Office of Cape Verde said it snubbed the regional court’s earlier ruling “because Cape Verde was not in agreement with the body on the supplementary protocol on the ECOWAS court that empowers the code to entertain human right ramifications.”
Mr Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, yesterday cautioned Cape Verde against disrespecting the regional court’s judgment.
Readers will recall that when the ECOWAS Court ordered the immediate release of Mr. Saab from illegal custody and termination of the extradition proceedings pending in Cape Verdean courts, President Jorge Fonseca said that Cape Verde was not bound by the decisions of the Regional Court. Again, when the Supreme Court of Justice of Cape Verde ruled that the immunity of Mr. Saab was a political decision, the government ignored the ruling.
In reacting to the interim order of the United Nations Human Rights Committee for the release of Mr. Saab from custody and stay of the extradition process, Mr. Falana, was surprised about how President Fonseca had turned round to say that even though Cape Verde was bound by the decision, the government awaits the judgment of the Constitutional Court on the matter.
“This is grossly misleading as President Fonseca is not unaware that the decisions of the United Nations Human Rights Committee are not subject to the review of domestic courts of Cape Verde,” the Counsel to the detained Venezuelan diplomat has said.
