The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has rejected the lawsuit filed by the former head of Venezuelan Intelligence Hugo ‘El Pollo’ Carvajal, thus clearing the way for Spain to extradite him to the United States, which is demanding for alleged crimes of drug and arms trafficking.

In a ruling known this Thursday, to which Europa Press has had access, the ECHR has ruled out, by majority, that Carvajal is exposed to a violation of article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which establishes that “no one may be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading punishment or treatment“.

‘El Pollo’ alleged that, if he were handed over to Washington and tried by US courts, “There is a real risk that he could be sentenced to life imprisonment, without access to any effective mechanism through which he can request a reduced sentence or a review, with a view to determining whether his continued imprisonment is justified on penological grounds. “.

However, Strasbourg has considered that Carvajal “has failed to demonstrate that, if he is extradited, You are at real risk of being sentenced to life in prison. without the possibility of parole in violation of Article 3″.

“And, therefore, it has found its claim manifestly unfounded,” says the European court. The National Court paralyzed the extradition of Carvajal in March 2022 in compliance with the precautionary measure granted by Strasbourg until the merits of the matter were resolved.

Now, once the claim is rejected, the delivery process of ‘El Pollo’ to the United States could be reactivated. It should be remembered that at that time, his delivery to the North American power had already been suspended since December 2021, pending the resolution of a second asylum request, which was finally denied by the Ministry of the Interior.

Spain agreed to hand him over three years ago

The former head of Military Counterintelligence with Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro is persecuted in Washington for facts that were produced between 1999 and 2019when he would have belonged to the so-called ‘Cartel de los Soles’, a criminal organization supposedly managed by ‘Chavista’ charges that, with the alleged collaboration of the FARC and other armed groups, would have introduced large quantities of drugs into the United States.

‘El Pollo’ has been in the possession of the Spanish authorities since September 9, 2021, when he was detained by the National Police, during a joint operation with the US DEA, in a Madrid apartment where he lived “totally cloistered”as reported by the security body at the time.

His capture then revived the extradition proceedings to the United Stateswhich was approved in 2020 but had not been able to materialize because Carvajal fled in November 2019, although his defense emphasizes that he never left Spain.

before his escape, Carvajal requested a first asylum alleging that he was the victim of political persecution because the US authorities placed him within Maduro’s circle of trust. This initial request was denied in 2019, but he did not have formal knowledge of it until September 2021. Thus, after being arrested, he reacted by trying to get the Interior to reverse his decision, without success.

Carvajal launched a second unsuccessful request for asylum, emphasizing the “collaboration process” with the Spanish Justice that began after being captured and that led to the reopening of a case on the alleged illegal financing of Podemos that was filed in 2016 and was filed again in 2022.

Carvajal’s defense has tried several times in all these years to your client is released, although the National Court has rejected it, considering that its flight risk is evident. For now, he remains in the Estremera prison (Madrid).

In addition, the Criminal Chamber of the National Court, which has already paralyzed Carvajal’s extradition four times, accused ‘El Pollo’ of using these international protection claims to delay his trip to the North American power.