This Wednesday, the defense of the alleged figurehead of Nicolás Maduro, Alex Saab, appealed the ruling of a Miami judge who considers that the Colombian-Venezuelan businessman does not enjoy diplomatic immunity as his defense argued to dismiss the accusation of money laundering that face in the United States.
The appeal by Saab, an alleged figurehead for the president of Venezuela, was filed before an appeals court in Atlanta, after a Miami judge ruled against him last Friday.
For his part, Judge Robert M. Scola said that “it is clear that the United States does not recognize the Maduro regime,” which is why he considers any claim of diplomatic immunity “illegitimate.”
The appeal was presented this Wednesday before the Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, a court that had already returned to Miami the task of reviewing the issue of diplomatic immunity in the month of May, which generated a setback for Saab’s defense.
Businessman Alex Saab, 51 years old, has been detained in the United States since October 2021 after being extradited from Cape Verde; he is accused of money laundering, for which he would be facing about 20 years in prison if he is found guilty.
The lawyers sought to throw out the case arguing that Saab was a “special envoy” to Iran, when he was detained in the middle of the trip, at a stop in Cape Verde, Africa.
In response to this, Judge Scola noted that the “evidence suggests that the Maduro regime and its accomplices have fabricated documents to cover up Saab Morán with a diplomatic suit that does not fit him.”
For his part, the president of the National Assembly of Venezuela, led by Chavismo, Jorge Rodríguez rejected the decision of the US judge and described it as “a legal outrage.”
“This Florida judge is ending hundreds of years of diplomacy as an institution. Now, no diplomat in the world will be safe,” said Rodríguez, who has several sanctions from the US and other countries.
You may also be interested in:
–US judge denies Alex Saab diplomatic immunity and dismisses money laundering case
–Judge approves the control of classified information in the case of the alleged figurehead of Maduro, Alex Saab in the US.
–Alex Saab, figurehead for Nicolás Maduro, lost appeal in Florida court on immunity in money laundering case