Venkateswari Alagendra is a Malaysian lawyer, sister of the wife of International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Karim Khan, and the outlet reveals that she has defended Maduro for alleged crimes against humanity
A newspaper investigation The Washington Post revealed that a lawyer of President Nicolás Maduro is the sister-in-law of the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (CPI), Karim Khan. She is Venkateswari Alagendra and has defended the Venezuelan president for alleged crimes against humanity in international instances, the American media specified on September 6.
Alagendra is part of the legal team that has even participated in Maduro’s defense in proceedings before the ICC. This decision has generated complaints within the entity and, despite the relationship between the prosecutor and the lawyer, Khan has opposed the legal appeals presented, he says. The Washington Post.
The media indicates that from the office of Karim Khan, who has held the position of prosecutor at the ICC since 2021, issued a statement stating that the participation of his sister-in-law, Venkateswari Alagendra, is public knowledge and there were no objections from those involved in this process.
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They point out, however, that the ICC code of conduct establishes that in the office of the prosecutor, its members must avoid conflicts of interest, such as close family relationships with the parties to the case.
ICC, Khan and Venezuela
The ICC has been investigating the situation in Venezuela since 2018. It began in February, with the opening of a preliminary examination into the alleged commission of crimes against humanity in the protests of April 2017. In December 2019, the cases from the 2014 protests were added and it specified that its review of the preliminary examination would end in 2020.
On December 14, 2020, he concluded that there was a reasonable basis for the possible commission of crimes within the country. Then, in November 2021, prosecutor Karim Khan opened an investigation against the Venezuelan State and, since then, he has visited Venezuela 4 times.
On March 1, 2024, the ICC authorized prosecutor Karim Khan to resume investigations into crimes against humanity in Venezuela. It is the first country in Latin America to do so.
The investigation is ongoing and will be conducted from The Hague, where the prosecutor’s office processes the appeals and complaints for the cases that will be presented in the indictment. The ICC does not judge countries, but individuals and establishes responsibilities.
Who is the ICC prosecutor’s sister-in-law?
Venkateswari Alagendra is Malaysian, she studied Law at the University of London, as well as a Masters in Law. Her life, along with that of her other sisters, was divided between India and England.
Her sister, Shyamala Alagendra Khan, is also a lawyer and the wife of the ICC prosecutor. Both are members of the Bar of the International Criminal Court, where they have served and represented several defendants, as is their mother Puan Sri N. Saraswathy Devi.
The Chilean newspaper The Third She published in 2018 that since 2009 she has been an advisor on several international teams led by British lawyer Karim Khan, prior to his appointment to the ICC.
Some of the people he has defended include Ambassador Francis Muthaura (Chairman of the Kenyan Civil Service); William Ruto (former President of Kenya); Fatmir Limaj (former Prime Minister of Kosovo) and Karma Khayat.
Read the full report at The Washington Post
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