Many citizens of Cape Verde have challenged their government’s arrest, continued detention and treatment of a Venezuelan diplomat, Alex Saab.
Saab was arrested and detained in Cape Verde upon a request by the Donald Trump-led US government on claims of money laundering and corruption.
The Venezuelan government said Saab was on an diplomatic mission to Iran on behalf of the country to get food and medical supplies when the arrest was effected by local police in Cape Verde where the businessman’s aircraft had stopped to refuel.
There is currently a legal battle to stop the extradition of Saab to the US and also challenge the Cape Verdean government’s handling of the matter.
A February 2021 survey carried out to ascertain approval for Cape Verde’s foreign policy including its handling of the matter in Cape Verde showed that about 79% of citizens viewed that matter as a diplomatic crisis the Ulisses Correia e Silva government had created.
The study was carried out in three cities where the issue has a major impact, Praia, the most populous city and country’s capital and, São Vicente and Santa Catarina.
The disapproval rate in the three cities were 64.9%, 78.5% and 66.3% respectively.
They contended that the government was politically wrong to accept the US’ request for detention or extradition.
The disapproval rates from respondents were higher when asked whether the Government should have kept Alex Saab in prison after learning that he was an emissary from a foreign country with diplomatic immunity.
For São Vicente, Praia and Santa Catarina these disapproval rates are 79.6%, 70.7% and 68.6%, respectively.
Critical concerns were also raised about the way the Government became involved in the problem. A vast majority of respondents think that Cape Verde should not have been involved in the issue or should not have authorized the process of the extradition request in the first place. 85.9%, 74.4% and 74.5% took this stand in the three municipalities, respectively.
A number of respondents also believed that Cape Verde was acting under pressure due to fear of consequent actions by the US.
A small fraction of the respondents were of the view that Cape Verde’s actions were due to some financial inducement or dislike of the Cape Verde government for the Nicolas Maduro-led Venezuela government.
Similarly, 63.8%, 68.3% and 76.1% of respondents criticized the Government of Cape Verde for failing to respect and comply with the decisions of the ECOWAS Court. In relation to the fact of Alex Saab being prevented from being seen by a specialist doctor, the degree of disapproval of people is even greater, at around 90%. In São Vicente, Praia and Santa Catarina, this negative opinion reached 90.5%, 87.9% and 91.8%, respectively.
In São Vicente, Praia and Santa Catarina, 49.5%, 62% and 74% respectively were of the view that Mr. Saab should be release based upon the earlier decision of Cape Verde’s Supreme Court.
It will be recalled that the Independent and Democratic Cape Verdean Union (UCID), an opposition party, recently blamed the Jorge Carlos Fonseca-led government for dragging the country into an international conflict with Venezuelan over Alex Saab’s continued detention.
The party described the country’s interest in the case as “obscure” and prayed the government to allow the institutions of justice function without internal or external political pressure.
The opposition was concerned that Cape Verde could suffer sanctions in the sub-region and the region if it continues to defy their laid down protocols on handling of such matters.
It was also of the view that the development could court disaffection and harm existing bilateral and multilateral relations.
“Cape Verde needs to pay attention to obscure diplomatic manoeuvres, pressures of any kind or truculent and unreasonable promises”, calling on the country to “apply the laws of the Republic with respect for international law, including multilateral and bilateral agreements of which it is a part,” it said earlier.
The post Cape Verdeans fault authorities over arrest, handling of Alex Saab appeared first on Citinewsroom - Comprehensive News in Ghana.
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