A federal judge in the United States has rejected a plea for diplomatic immunity from businessman Alex Saab, a close ally of left-wing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
Lawyers for Colombian-born Saab, 51, have argued that the charges against him should be dismissed as he worked as a diplomat for the Venezuelan government.
Judge Robert Scola in Miami, Florida, rejected those arguments in a 15-page ruling on Friday. Scola’s ruling alleges that the court cannot recognize Saab as a representative of his government, as the United States does not recognize the legitimacy of Maduro’s second term in office.
“Maduro’s regime was considered ‘illegitimate,’” Scola wrote. “Any claim of diplomatic immunity made by a representative of the Maduro regime must also be regarded as illegitimate.”
The decision continues a nearly two-year legal battle over Saab, which has heightened tensions between the US and Venezuela. Saab is facing a money laundering plot, which is punishable by a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
The US Department of Justice has accused Saab of participating in a bribery scheme that began in 2011 and lasted until 2015. Prosecutors had previously asked that seven more charges be dropped in order to comply with Saab’s extradition conditions.
According to prosecutors, Saab and his employees allegedly received orders from the Venezuelan government to build housing for low-income people, but instead withdrew 350 million dollars from the country to benefit from favorable exchange rates.
Saab’s lawyer Neil Schuster pleaded “not guilty” in 2021 for his client, whom he described as a “diplomat of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.”
Saab was arrested in Cape Verde, an archipelago on Africa’s Atlantic coast, on June 12, 2020, after the private jet he was on stopped to refuel. It was later delivered to the USA on October 16 of the same year.
In Venezuela, Maduro and his allies have described the arrest of Saab as part of an “economic war” waged by the US against the socialist-led country.
“He was persecuted, abducted and tortured for helping Venezuela,” Maduro said the month after Saab was delivered, while presenting a collection of letters written by Saab at a book fair in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas.
In this week’s hearings, Saab’s defense also described the arrest as an abduction.
“It’s as if you abduct someone, bring them to your home, and then accuse them of trespassing,” said attorney Lee Casey.
Maduro’s government has backed Saab’s claims that he acted as a diplomat for the Venezuelan government and said he was on his way to Iran to negotiate an oil deal at the time of his arrest.
It would have been Saab’s third visit to Iran on behalf of Venezuela, his defense argues.
To back up Saab’s request for diplomatic immunity, Saab’s lawyers submitted notes to the US court that they said were diplomatic communications between Iran and Venezuela.
Saab’s defense also claimed that he had with him a sealed letter from Maduro himself asking the Iranian leadership to support a deal to export fuel to Venezuela. The South American country was suffering from extreme fuel shortages at the time, and gas prices rose to $10 per gallon.
However, US government prosecutors have raised doubts about the authenticity of some of these documents, which include a Venezuelan diplomatic passport and a presidential decree published in Venezuela’s official gazette.
They claim that some of this documentation may have been falsified.
“At best, he was a courier,” said Deputy U.S. Attorney Alex Kramer. “But being a courier for diplomatic letters doesn’t make you a diplomat.”
While Saab has said through his lawyers that he considers himself a “loyal citizen” of Venezuela, court records revealed that Saab may have worked as an “active law enforcement source” for the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and provided information about Maduro’s government.
Saab’s defense argued that his contacts in Maduro’s government were aware of his communications with the DEA. During these communications, US government officials reportedly asked Saab to surrender voluntarily and warned that his failure to do so could result in criminal charges.
The US judge’s decision on Friday to deny Saab’s request for diplomatic immunity dates back to a disputed presidential election in Venezuela in 2018.
The incumbent Maduro successfully contested a second six-year term, but the vote was disputed. Two popular opposition leaders were excluded from running and the country’s main opposition coalition, the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD), boycotted the election.
Maduro took office in January 2019. In response, opposition leader Juan Guaidó, the then chairman of the country’s National Assembly, declared himself interim president of Venezuela despite Maduro’s rule.
Faced with the prospect of two Venezuelan presidents, the US decided to recognize the legitimacy of Guaidó’s presidency over Maduro’s. The government of then-Republican President Donald Trump denounced Maduro’s re-election as “illegitimate” and described the 2018 election results as “slipping into dictatorship.”
Saab’s arrest has since contributed to tense political relations between the US and Venezuela. Following Saab’s extradition to the US, Maduro’s government threatened to suspend negotiations with the political opposition in Venezuela, calling the move “an expression of our deepest protest against the brutal aggression” directed at Saab.
On Thursday, the Venezuelan opposition voted to remove Guaidó’s interim government as politicians in Venezuela prepare for presidential elections scheduled for 2024. The decision must be voted on again before it is finalized.
The current administration of US President Joe Biden, a Democrat, has signaled that it plans to improve relations with Maduro’s government and ease oil sanctions following a deal between Maduro and the opposition in November.
Brazilian President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has also announced that his country plans to resume diplomatic relations with Maduro’s government in the new year.