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<div class="entry-content-title-featured-wrap"><div class="gmail-container-wrapper"><div class="gmail-read-details"><div class="entry-header-details gmail-af-cat-widget-carousel"><h1 class="entry-title">Dramatic U-Turn, United States Now Recognizes Alex Saab as Special Envoy of Venezuela</h1>
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By William Camacaro – Sep 15, 2022
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<img src="https://orinocotribune.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Concentracion-en-apoyo-a-Alex-Saab-01-scaled-1-scaled.jpg" alt="Venezuelan woman demanding in a street protest for the freedom of ambassador Alex Saab while holding a banner with a photo of the diplomat that reads: "Alex Saab kidnapped by the Empire, #FreeAlexSaab, they haven't been able to bend him." File photo." class="entered gmail-lazyloaded" style="margin-right: 0px;" width="392" height="279">
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<font size="1">Venezuelan woman demanding in a street
protest for the freedom of ambassador Alex Saab while holding a banner
with a photo of the diplomat that reads: "Alex Saab kidnapped by the
Empire, #FreeAlexSaab, they haven't been able to bend him." File photo</font>.
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<p style="text-align:right"><strong>Disclosure comes in filing made by DoJ in Miami court.</strong></p>
<p>After more than two years questioning Venezuelan Alex Saab’s
diplomatic status, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) has now conceded
that he is a special envoy. The dramatic U-turn was made in a filing
before Justice Scola on Tuesday, September 13, in a hearing that was
held regarding Saab’s motion to compel the DoJ to hand over certain
documents, which his defense believes would be beneficial to his claim
of diplomatic immunity.</p>
<p>Alex Saab’s defense has been pushing the DoJ for some months now to
make what are called “Brady disclosures.” These require that information
and evidence that is material to the guilt or innocence of a defendant
must be disclosed by the prosecutor to the defense team. The term comes
from the 1963 US Supreme Court case (Brady v. Maryland), in which the
Supreme Court ruled that suppression by the prosecution of evidence
favorable to a defendant who has requested it violates due process. The
Department of Justice has steadfastly dragged its heels in producing the
requested documents, leaving Saab’s defense no choice but to file a
motion to compel the hastening of the process.</p>
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<p>Saab’s defense team is adamant that, given the importance of the
case, other branches of the US government, such as a the Department of
State, DoJ’s Office of International Affairs, Department of Defense and
the Washington Interpol liaison office all hold information that
supports the notion that Alex Saab is a Venezuelan special envoy
entitled to diplomatic immunity and inviolability.</p>
<p>Alex Saab was detained on June 12, 2020, on the Cape Verdean Island
of Sal on instructions from the United States to the tiny West African
archipelago. At the time, which coincided with the peak of the COVID-19
pandemic, Alex Saab was undertaking a humanitarian special mission to
Iran to procure medicines, medical equipment, and equipment for the oil
sector in Venezuela. His detention was declared illegal twice by the
Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States, in
March and June of 2021, a claim that was further supported by rulings
from the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva. Similarly,
Saab’s detention was condemned by several other UN bodies. Cape Verde
bowed to political pressure from the United States and agreed to
extradite Alex Saab. Even though the domestic judicial process was not
completed, Alex Saab was forcibly removed to Miami on October 16, 2021.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Throughout Tuesday’s hearing, the DoJ appeared off balance, and
Justice Scola’s comments on the performance were on several occasions
bathed in scorn, if not outright sarcasm. Central to the discussion was
whether or not the DoJ intended to use any classified materials to
support its position. After some prevarication, it admitted that it was
still “reviewing the matter” and that ‘technology issues” were making
the review more difficult than usual. Justice Scola asked Alex Saab’s
defense team if they objected to granting the DoJ more time, to which
they agreed.</p>
<p></p>
<p>The date for the hearing on Alex Saab’s status as a diplomat entitled
to immunity has now been pushed back to December 12. Following the
DoJ’s acceptance of the fact that Alex Saab is a special envoy, the
court will effectively be left with only the issue of Saab’s entitlement
to immunity to address.</p>
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<p>Orinoco Tribune special by William Camacaro</p>
<p>WC/OT/SL</p></div></div></div></div></div></div>
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