The lawyer David Rivkin, in charge of the defense of the Special Envoy of Venezuela Alex Saab in the United States, presented oral arguments on Wednesday about the diplomatic immunity of his client, violated by the North American nation by transferring him to a prison in Miami since last 16 October 2021.
The defense showed in the morning hours of this Wednesday a series of documents issued by the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry, where the diplomatic status of Alex Saab is exhaustively exposed. However, the decision of the judge of the appeals court will not be known this day.
Alex Saab was illegally detained in Cape Verde on June 12, 2020, a country that complied with an alleged Interpol Red Alert which was made public with the non-coinciding date of June 13, one day after perpetrating the act. Likewise, the International Police informed the Venezuelan Government on June 25, 2020 that the Red Alert had been canceled and that there was no data in the system records about Alex Saab. Leaving again in evidence that his arrest was riddled with irregularities.
Among the arguments of the defense is that Alex Saab Morán was designated as a “Special Envoy of the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (…) to carry out steps aimed at guaranteeing the commercial and humanitarian procurement of essential goods and services.” These efforts should seek “practical solutions to the complex situations that affect the Republic (…) as a consequence of the criminal and financial blockade to which it has been subjected since 2015” by the Government of the United States and the European Union, settles the accreditation of April 9, 2018, signed by the then Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza Monserrat.
Vienna Convention and international viability
Rivkin has assured in statements to the media that the Alex Saab case implies the “viability of the international system”, because it is about deciding on “the free opportunity of sovereign states to engage in diplomacy, which requires absolute inviolability of ambassadors and special envoys.
On this point, it is necessary to remember that the United States, as an economic and military power in the world, maintains a diplomatic relationship with most of the countries of the United Nations, which implies having figures of Special Envoys in each of these nations.
In the event that Alex Saab is allowed to be prosecuted, a door would be opened for other states to violate the diplomatic immunity of foreign officials.
In this sense, the defense argues that his immunity should prevent the arrest of Alex Saab, according to what is contained in articles 29 and 30 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
For example, 29 notes that “the person of the diplomatic agent is inviolable. He cannot be subject to any form of detention or arrest. The receiving State will treat him with due respect and will take all appropriate measures to prevent any attack on his person, freedom or dignity.
