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MADRID (AP) — The lawyer for a former bodyguard of late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez is arguing his client should not be extradited from Spain to face money-laundering charges because his home country doesn't respect human rights.
Lawyer Ismael Oliver Romero also told a hearing at Spain's National Court on Thursday that the Venezuelan extradition request should not be admitted because the alleged crimes are not fully documented.
But the Spanish public prosecutor, who is in favor of extraditing Adrian Velasquez Figueroa, says generic information is no obstacle to extradition.
Figueroa and his wife, Claudia Diaz, a one-time Chavez nurse, are fighting extradition. She lost her initial hearing but has lodged an appeal.
The pair were detained in Spain last April. Venezuelan prosecutors are seeking them on suspicion of corruption.
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