Alex Saab "diplomatic status" test fails again in Florida.

He lost in every court he tried in Cape Verde. He lost in ECOWAS. Now Alex Saab has also lost in a Florida court, whose judge -Robert N. Scola, Jr.- ruled: "In sum, Saab Moran has failed to prove, as a threshold matter, that customary international law recognizes transit immunities for diplomatic agents on temporary missions. And even then, the weight of the authorities before the Court strongly indicates that, if it exists, such immunity would require the consent of the transiting state(s), which Saab Moran has also not proven. Accordingly, his theories under customary international law fail."

The ruling of Judge Scola sets a precedent that goes beyond that of Cape Verde or indeed ECOWAS courts. Without having addressed the merits for which Saab has to face Department of Justice charges (payment of bribes, large scale corruption and money laundering in relation to housing contracts), the issue of Saab's made up diplomatic status has been put to rest.

Worth recalling that Saab's mouthpieces failed equally at different court levels in Cape Verde and before ECOWAS courts. The ruling from ECOWAS is, actually, very similar to that of Judge Scola:

"The Applicant, Alex Saab, does not enjoy any diplomatic immunity on which he relies, wherefore the grounds of his various internal and international appeals based on his supposed immunity are mere fantasy and have no correspondence with the law." 

Judge Scola added, for the record, what this site and others have maintained about Saab's alleged diplomatic status: "The evidence suggests that the Maduro regime and its accomplices have fabricated documents to cloak Saab Moran in a diplomatic dress that does not befit him, all in an effort to exploit the law of diplomatic immunities and prevent his extradition to the United States."

Baker Hostetler threw everything it could, including that fabricated evidence Judge Scola refers to, but simply couldn’t prove that Saab is anything other than Nicolas Maduro's messenger.

The question of how Saab -considering Treasury sanctions- can keep paying a team of very expensives yet useless attorneys is still to be addressed.