Venezuelan Supreme Court to Request Extradition of Venezuelans Detained in Portugal
Judge Carmen Marisela Castro Gilly explains that Maria Clara Câmara Andrade and Carlos Gonçalves de Abreu “are required by the Venezuelan authorities for the alleged practice of crimes of undue access, foreseen and punished in the special law against computer crime, aggravated theft, unauthorized appropriation, extortion especially fraud, tearful possession disturbance and association to commit crime.
The text of the decision, released on Tuesday, explains that, on September 29, 2022, both citizens had been arrested in Lisbon, following the issuing of red alerts by Interpol, requested by Venezuela.
According to the STJ, “it is valid to request the active extradition” of these citizens to the Portuguese Republic “for criminal trial in Venezuelan territory”.
On the other hand, the STJ “assumes a firm commitment”, before Portugal, that these citizens “will be judged with the due security and constitutional guarantees and criminal procedures, enshrined in the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela” and that “it will take into account the length of detention in the Portuguese Republic”.
The text also recalls that the Venezuelan Organic Code of Criminal Procedure “prohibits a trial in the absence of the accused”, since he is unable to exercise his right to be heard.
The court’s decision is based on a claim of assets from the heirs of a partner of a company and the complaint states that “the defendants irregularly entered the account of one of the victims, through the use of technology, to steal his money” .
The complaint also alleges that the victim’s personal property that was in the company was stolen and that there was appropriation of objects belonging to the company.
The accused allegedly made false allegations about the assets of the defrauded company, generating fictitious liabilities to the detriment of the company, and violently and clandestinely appropriated the victim’s property.