Colombian businessman Alex Saab asked a federal court in Florida to allow him to present two witnesses by videoconference in order to prove that he worked as a diplomat for the president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, when he was arrested in Cape Verde in June 2020.
“The defendant seeks the testimony by videoconference of the witnesses VZ Witness 1 and VZ Witness 2,” explains the 12-page motion published on Friday in which the potential witnesses are not identified.
The document indicates that one of the potential witnesses is an active member of the Venezuelan National Guard while the second is an official of the Government of that country. Both would be a vehicle to try to prove the diplomatic immunity of the accused.
Saab was arrested in Cape Verde by means of an Interpol order, at the call of a request from the Prosecutor’s Office of the Southern District of Florida that formally accused him -along with his partner Álvaro Pulido- of conspiring to commit money laundering and money laundering. money, both crimes related to a “plan to pay bribes to take advantage of the exchange rate controlled by the government of Venezuela.”
Businessman was eventually extradited to the United States in October 2021, after 16 months of arrest in the African nation.
The indictment made by US prosecutors alleges that from approximately 2011 to 2015, Saab and Pulido conspired with others to launder more than $350 million.
Saab has promised to offer the names of his witnesses before October 17, since a hearing is scheduled for the 31st of that month to discuss whether or not he deserves diplomatic immunity, as he alleges.
defense arguments
Saab’s defense argues that the witnesses cannot travel to the US because this country does not have an embassy in Venezuela and they would have to travel to the diplomatic mission in Bogotá, Colombia, but it would not give them time to process a visa application interview.
In its justification, the defense of the businessman gives examples of cases in which live testimonies have been allowed through videoconference.
Saab alleges that these are two “very important” witnesses to “guarantee the fair and equitable administration of the law.”
In the description that appears in the motion, Saab assures that Witness 1 gave security to him and his family, even when he was working as a “special envoy” of the Venezuelan government.
“He has personal knowledge of Mr. Saab’s diplomatic status, his travels and his diplomatic meetings with Iranian officials,” the businessman alleges.
Meanwhile, Witness 2 is an official from Caracas who served as a diplomat in Cape Verde and is aware of the reaction and efforts of the Maduro government after Saab’s arrest.
At the time of his capture, Saab was on his way to guarantee food for the government distribution system, known as the CLAPs, “as well as medicines, medical supplies and other humanitarian goods for the care of the COVID pandemic -19”, according to the text of the prosecution.
The Venezuelan government has even conditioned the continuation of talks with the opposition to Sabb’s release. The White House has explained on several occasions that they do not intend to exchange the businessman for one of the Americans imprisoned in Caracas.
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