The Government of Argentina presented a habeas corpus appeal to Justice this Thursday in order to guarantee the freedom of the country’s president, Javier Milei, and other high officials in the face of the international arrest warrant issued by Venezuela, official sources reported.
The habeas corpus action, a remedy that seeks to protect freedom when it is illegally threatened, was presented by the Ministry of Justice and the Treasury Attorney General of Argentina before the federal courts in Buenos Aires.
The appeal was presented preventively in response to the international arrest warrant issued on September 23 by a Venezuelan court for “aggravated robbery” and six other crimes related to the case of the Venezuelan-Iranian plane that was detained in Buenos Aires and It was sent to the United States last February.
Among those affected by the arrest order are, in addition to Javier Milei, his sister and general secretary of the Presidency, Karina Milei; the Minister of Security, Patricia Bullrich; and judges and prosecutors of Argentina.
The arrest order was issued by the Criminal Cassation Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice of Venezuela a few days after the attorney general of that country, Tarek William Saab, demanded the arrest of Milei for the “theft” of the Venezuelan-Iranian plane who was detained in Buenos Aires in June 2022, when the Peronist Alberto Fernández governed Argentina.
By decision of the Argentine Justice, the aircraft was sent to the United States last February, shortly after Milei assumed the Argentine Presidency.
Saab also reported the appointment of a “prosecutor specialized in human rights protection to investigate Milei and Bullrich for “actions committed against the Argentine people.”
“The accusations, based on falsehoods and lacking support, show an attempt at intimidation by a judicial system without independence and at the service of a dictatorship,” the Argentine Ministry of Justice indicated this Thursday.
According to that ministry in a statement, “this arbitrary attack, motivated by exclusively political reasons, constitutes a direct threat to the personal freedom of Argentine officials, seriously violating the rights protected by the National Constitution and international human rights agreements.” that Argentina is subscribed”.
The Milei Government asserted that it will not allow “any foreign dictatorship to attack the freedom” of Argentine citizens.
“The protection of the freedom and rights of Argentines is non-negotiable, and we will not give in to authoritarian pressures,” stated the Ministry of Justice.
Last month, the Argentine Justice issued an international arrest warrant for the extradition to Argentina of Nicolás Maduro, the Minister of Interior Relations, Justice and Peace of Venezuela, Diosdado Cabello, and other members of the Venezuelan Executive accused of crimes against humanity.
The arrest request was made based on a case opened in Argentine courts due to a complaint made in January 2023 by the Argentine Forum for the Defense of Democracy (FADD), based on the principle of universal jurisdiction that allows countries to prosecute serious crimes against human rights regardless of where they were committed and the nationality of those responsible or their victims.
Buenos Aires / EFE
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