Spanish Court to Ask US to Guarantee Dignified Treatment of Ex-Venezuelan Spy

MADRID (Sputnik) - The Spanish Supreme Court will ask the United States for guarantees that the ex-chief of Venezuela’s intelligence, Hugo Carvajal, will receive "dignified treatment" upon his extradition, the court told Sputnik on Friday.

"The plenary session of the Supreme Court's Criminal Chamber has agreed on an appeal to the American side in order to obtain guarantees of dignified treatment," a source in the court told Sputnik, adding that the US will have 45 days to respond to the request.

On Tuesday, the Spanish Supreme Court dismissed an appeal filed by Carvajal against the decision to extradite him to the US, where he is charged with drug trafficking, ties to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), and possession of weapons.

The court linked the resumption of the extradition process to the US guarantees of Carvajal’s dignified treatment, eliminating legal deficiencies in the process that led to the suspension of the extradition as of October 22.

Carvajal, a former advisor to erstwhile Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and head of the country's military intelligence, was arrested in Madrid in April 2019 at the request of the US. In November 2019, the court ruled to extradite the suspect, after which the police could not establish his whereabouts. After Carvajal was finally arrested in September 2021, the Supreme Court agreed on October 20 to extradite him to the US.

The US expects Carvajal to provide valuable information on the alleged drug activities of the FARC. Carvajal was a trusted adviser to late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez and served as military intelligence chief from 2004-2011 and 2013-2014.