Human Rights
Italy rejects extradition of former Venezuelan oil minister critical of Maduro regime
The Italian court denied the request—after Spain's Court of Cassation recognized Ramirez as a refugee who needed international protection from political persecution
January 30, 2022 2:40pm
Updated: February 1, 2022 11:49am
Italy rejected Venezuela’s request to extradite Rafael Ramirez, the South American country’s former oil minister and head of the state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela, reported Reuters.
Venezuelan authorities demanded the former official's extradition from Italian authorities over embezzlement charges and bid-rigging for oil contracts. In 2017 he was ousted from his post of 10-years after criticizing Nicolas Maduro's regime.
Ramirez accused Maduro of running the South American oil industry to the ground and abandoning the socialist principles of Hugo Chavez.
Ramirez claims the embezzlement accusations are a false narrative created by the regime to lend credence to their attempt to extradite him. The former minister says he is really wanted just for speaking out against the Venezuelan communist regime.
In September, Spain's Court of Cassation recognized Ramirez as a refugee who needed international protection over fears that he would face political persecution if he were to return to Venezuela.
On Friday, Italy’s highest court rejected the extradition request citing Venezuela’s records of human rights violations.
"The Italian Supreme Court has declared definitively inadmissible the extradition request," Ramirez's Italian lawyer Roberto De Vita told Reuters.
