Source: China News Network
According to the Russian satellite network reported on October 18, Venezuelan President Maduro said on the 17th that the Venezuelan government will file a complaint with international organizations about the "kidnapping" of its diplomat Alex Saab. Saab was arrested in June 2020 during a technical stopover in Cape Verde, and was extradited to the United States on the 16th of this month, where he will appear in court on the 18th.
Maduro said on a program on Venezuelan state television that Saab was taken away without a warrant. This is "kidnapping" and a "serious crime" that violates international and diplomatic law and the global norms for the protection of diplomats. Maduro also said it was necessary to prosecute the grave crime to international agencies and continue to "fight" the United States.
Maduro reminded that Saab's extradition to the United States on the 16th has led the Venezuelan government to suspend dialogue with the opposition in Mexico City. Venezuela issued a government communiqué on the 16th, saying that The Venezuelan government's special envoy Saab was "illegally extradited" to the United States on the same day, and the Venezuelan side strongly condemned it.
Maduro also said that the United States "kidnapped" Saab and deliberately "stabbed" in the negotiation process, because Saab was included in the negotiating delegation working on the normalization of the political situation in Venezuela in September.
In July 2019, Saab was indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice on charges of money laundering, including money laundering, and was arrested in June 2020 while stopping at Cape Verde on his way to Iran. Saab's team of lawyers tried to prevent his extradition to the United States on the basis of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, but the Constitutional Court of Cape Verde rejected Saab's lawyer's appeal in September and approved his extradition to the United States.
Reuters reported that a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Justice confirmed Saab's extradition and said he was expected to appear for the first time in florida's Southern District Court on the 18th.