BUENOS AIRES – Justice argentina On Wednesday, it ordered the seizure of a cargo plane of Venezuelan origin in response to a request from the United States, which considers that there were irregularities in the acquisition of the aircraft from an Iranian airline accused of having links to terrorism.
The measure was ordered by Argentine federal judge Federico Villena based on a judicial cooperation treaty between Argentina and the United States. The confiscation order had been requested by the federal court for the US District of Columbia.
The Boing 747-300M, belonging to the Venezuelan state cargo airline Emtrasur —subsidiary of the Venezuelan Consortium of Aeronautical Industries and Air Services (Conviasa)—, was held in Buenos Aires since June 6, 2022 due to suspicions about its crew made up of Venezuelans and Iranians.
With the precedent of two terrorist attacks—at the Israeli embassy and at a Jewish mutual benefit in Buenos Aires—during the 1990s, the justice system investigated several of the flight’s occupants for months until they were dismissed and were able to leave the airport. country.
Causes of confiscation
In turn, the United States justice requested the confiscation of the plane for violation of export control laws, when in October 2021 the Iranian airline Mahan Air transferred custody of the plane to Emtrasur without authorization from the US government.
US authorities attribute Mahan Air links to terrorist organizations. Therefore, it is prevented from carrying out any type of transaction from the United States that is related to goods or raw materials subject to the export administration law.
Likewise, Conviasa has been on a list of companies sanctioned by the United States since 2020 and its fleet was blocked in 2019.
Judge Villena supported the actions of the prosecutor in the case, Cecilia Incardona, who last week had indicated that “the request for confiscation is appropriate within the framework of the Treaty of Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters, signed between Argentina and the United States.”
“Acting in the opposite direction could imply the international responsibility of the Argentine Republic… for failure to comply with its duties of international cooperation and legal assistance in matters of crime repression and departure from the principle of good faith that must govern the actions of the State. National in order to faithfully comply with the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law,” the prosecutor’s office said.
Emtrasur appeals
The dictator of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, publicly demanded the return of the plane on several occasions.
The aircraft will remain in Buenos Aires until the court rules on the appeal presented by the legal representatives of Emtrasur.
Source: With information from AP
