This site heard from a source last Saturday that Alex Saab would be extradited to the U.S. today, Wednesday, September 29, 2021. We tweeted this information and asked aviation expert @Arr3ch0 to stay alert. He just informed us that the N708JH from the Department of Justice appears to be en route to Cape Verde. Arr3ch0 also mentioned that YV2984, an aircraft used by Nicolás Maduro, had recently been in Mexico and shortly thereafter departed for Bissau.
to be confirmed…
Added at 14:54 GMT:
D-CNUE en route to São Vicente
Air ambulance also en route. Out of @ADSBexchange now… pic.twitter.com/mZdfC2sbiA
— Alek Boyd “Plagiarism is theft” (@infodi0) September 29, 2021
Updated at 16:30 GMT: The N708JH from the Department of Justice has just disappeared from flight tracking maps. It’s likely that they do not want to broadcast their position as they begin to descend towards Cape Verde.
N708JH from the Department of Justice en route to pick up Alex Saab
Added on 30/09/2021, 13:53 GMT: The N708JH landed at Bamako Airport (BKO) in Mali yesterday at 19:54 GMT. There is currently no evidence linking it to the extradition of Alex Saab.
While we await further developments in this case, readers are encouraged to review this ruling from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Court of Justice, where Saab’s defense erroneously claims—according to the ruling—that his “diplomatic status” should have prevented the authorities in Cape Verde from arresting him on June 12, 2020, while en route to Iran as Nicolás Maduro’s special envoy.
This ruling is a striking repudiation of Saab’s unfounded allegations: of having been mistreated and tortured; of being denied the right to legal counsel/access to a lawyer; of being denied medical attention; of being denied the right to a fair hearing/trial; of potentially facing torture in the U.S.; of being potentially subject to life imprisonment in the U.S.; and of Cape Verde refusing to recognize his nonexistent diplomatic status under current laws; as well as how Maduro’s regime’s subsequent actions—appointing Saab as Alternate Permanent Ambassador of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to the African Union—allowed him to seek legal action against Cape Verde in that court… one unfounded complaint after another was dismissed by the ECOWAS Court, which ultimately ruled for Saab’s immediate release, solely based on a delayed INTERPOL red notice that arrived after his arrest.
This ruling contrasts sharply with the ridiculous arguments put forth by Saab’s U.S. attorney (Baker Hostetler) in a criminal proceeding in Florida, where his “diplomatic status” is the center of attention. As determined by the ruling of the ECOWAS Court:
…Therefore, this Court concludes that the Plaintiff has not demonstrated the grounds on which, at the time of his arrest, he could invoke diplomatic immunity and inviolability against the Defendant State…
…the alleged diplomatic agent status claimed by the Plaintiff has not been substantiated.
Furthermore, the ruling determined that at the time of arrest, Saab’s “diplomatic passport” was expired: “The copy of the diplomatic passport attached to the file shows it was expired since March 2020 (see Annex I).” In response to proceedings in the ECOWAS Court, Cape Verde argued:
The Plaintiff, Alex Saab, does not enjoy any diplomatic immunity on which to rely, and thus the grounds for his various domestic and international remedies based on his alleged immunity are mere fantasies and have no correspondence with the law.
That sounds fair.
Added on 10/02/2021, 11:36 GMT: N708JH appears to be returning to the U.S.:
#N708JH returning… pic.twitter.com/5NJg06QuRy
— Alek Boyd “Plagiarism is theft” (@infodi0) October 2, 2021