Trial and criticism thereof
 | This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (August 2023) |
Matthew John Heath [1] (born 1981) is an honorably discharged [2] U.S. Marine Corps veteran, security consultant, [3] and commentator. He took part in the early battles of the Iraq War and was highly decorated for actions taken [4] in the Battle of Nasiriyah. Heath specialized in communication [5] and signals intelligence. [6] After leaving the military in 2004, he began work as a security consultant for the U.S. Govt. On September 9, 2020, Heath was arrested by the government of Venezuela and subsequently charged with offenses related to treason, terrorism and arms trafficking. [7] Following his arrest, his family engaged in a public advocacy campaign in order to secure his release from Venezuela.
After leaving the Marine Corps, Heath worked for the U.S. State Department on the Central Poppy Eradication Program throughout Afghanistan. On August 29, 2004, the Taliban targeted Heath at his home with a suicide VBIED that killed seven, but narrowly avoided killing its intended target. Taliban spokesman Abdul Latif Hakimi claimed full knowledge of the attack [8] and said "The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan takes full responsibility". President Hamid Karzai issued a statement regarding the blast. [9]
Prosecutor General Tarek William Saab claims Heath worked for MVM, Inc., a private security contracting firm with ties to the Central Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency, [10] from 2006 until 2016. [11]
In early 2020 Heath had purchased a small 53 foot trawler hulled yacht with plans to start a charter business in the Caribbean. [12] Heath is currently an independent security consultant with Secure Horizons, LLC. Heath has regularly been interviewed in print for his opinions on Wrongful Detainment of U.S. citizens and his views on U.S. Venezuela relations. [13]
In March 2020 Heath had set sail in the Caribbean on a small ship called the "Purple Dream", [14] and sailed to Nicaragua and Colombia. He was arrested in Colombia after being found with two handgun magazines at a checkpoint. [15] He allegedly traveled to Venezuela in an attempt to return home to the United States but was arrested on Sept 9 2020. Heath was charged by the Prosecutor General of Venezuela, Tarek William Saab, with Treason, Terrorism and Arms Trafficking. [16] [17] Venezuelan authorities claim to have arrested him while in possession of an AT4 rocket launcher, an Uzi sub-machine gun, C-4 explosives, pictures of a nearby oil refinery, and large amounts of foreign currency. His lawyer has called the charges against him falsified. [18] Additionally, Heath was imprisoned in El Helicoide prison (infamous for alleged torture [19] ) and his family accused the Venezuelan government of torturing him. [20]
In a nationally televised address, [21] Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek Saab labeled Heath a "spy" and "mercenary" and accused him plotting attacks against Venezuela's oil industry and electricity system. [22] Saab stated that Venezuelan security services had neutralized an operation that "could have been one of the worst in recent times" and that Heath "was found carrying out espionage activities to destabilize Venezuelan territory ... (Heath) had the help of Venezuelan citizens, both military and civilian. [23] " Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro announced Heath's capture and alleged Heath was spying on the country's Amuay Refinery and Cardon refineries. Maduro Alleged Heath was captured carrying "specialized weapons, communications equipment" and large amounts of cash. President Maduro alleged heath was a CIA operative. [24]
Senior U.S. Government officials reject claims that they sent Heath to Venezuela. [25] The Central Intelligence Agency declined to comment. [26] The United States Marine Corps simply confirmed that a man matching Heath's name "served in the Corps from 1999 until 2003" but could neither confirm nor deny that the man arrested in Venezuela was the same man. [27] In February 2021, Venezuelan judicial authorities ordered that a trial begin for Heath. The U.S. State Department called upon the Venezuelan government to provide a fair hearing for Heath. [28]
While the CIA declined to comment on the case and other senior officials rejected Venezuelan claims that Heath was sent by the U.S. Govt, Heath received broad support from other high-ranking officials. Senior Advisor to the Secretary of State Ned Price, [29] Assistant Secretary of State Brian A. Nichols, [30] Ambassador Roger D. Carstens, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken [31] all at various times released statements calling for his immediate release from Venezuelan captivity. Heath's support was not confined to the U.S. State Department. Congressman Chuck Fleischmann, [32] Senator Bill Hagerty, and Senator Ted Cruz [33] called for Heath's "immediate and unconditional release". National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan office personally handled Heath's case, and was in contact with Heath's family throughout his detainment. [34] President Joe Biden was briefed on Heath's case as circumstances required. Upon Heaths release President Joe Biden released a statement affirming Heath's wrongful detention and celebrating his reuniting with his family. [35]
| | This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (August 2023) |
On 1 October 2022, Heath was released as part of a prisoner swap between the United States and Venezuela. The swap saw Heath and six other Americans exchanged for the two nephews, Francisco Flores de Freitas and Efraín Antonio Campo Flores (Narcosobrinos), of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's wife. [36] Both Freitas and Flores had been found guilty of attempting to smuggle 800 kilos of Cocaine into the United States. President Biden released a statement celebrating Heaths return. [37] On October 18, 2022, Heath's hometown threw him a parade to celebrate his end of captivity, [38] attended by the local fire department and school children from the elementary, middle, and high schools. Deputy Homeland Security Adviser Joshua Geltzer issued a statement on behalf of NSA Sullivan celebrating Heath's return to the USA. [39]
Heath's family is a founding part of the Bring Our Families Home campaign which advocates to bring home wrongful detainees and hostages. Heath's image is featured in a 15-foot mural in Georgetown (Washington, D.C.) along with other Americans wrongfully detained abroad. [40]
Venezuela
Heath has criticized the government of Venezuela for its corruption and lack of judicial independence. [41]
Wrongful Detainees
Heath has regularly spoken to the press about other wrongful detainees such as former Marine Austin Tice, Emad Shargi, and others. [42] [43]
Citgo Petroleum Corporation is a United States–based refiner, transporter and marketer of transportation fuels, lubricants, petrochemicals and other industrial products. Headquartered in the Energy Corridor area of Houston, it is majority-owned by PDVSA, a state-owned company of the Venezuelan government.
False arrest, unlawful arrest or wrongful arrest is a common law tort, where a plaintiff alleges they were held in custody without probable cause, or without an order issued by a court of competent jurisdiction. Although it is possible to sue law enforcement officials for false arrest, the usual defendants in such cases are private security firms.
United States–Venezuela relations have traditionally been characterized by an important trade and investment relationship as well as cooperation in combating the production and transit of illegal drugs.
Since the Iranian Revolution in 1979, the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has been accused by several countries of training, financing, and providing weapons and safe havens for non-state militant actors, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza, and other Palestinian groups such as the Islamic Jihad (IJ) and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). These groups are designated terrorist groups by a number of countries and international bodies such as the EU, UN, and NATO; however, Iran considers such groups to be "national liberation movements" with a right to self-defense against Israeli military occupation. These proxies are used by Iran across the Middle East and Europe to foment instability, expand the scope of the Islamic Revolution, and carry out terrorist attacks against Western targets in the regions. Its special operations unit, the Quds Force, is known to provide arms, training, and financial support to militias and political movements across the Middle East, including Bahrain, Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, and Yemen.
Juan Requesens Martínez is a deputy of the Venezuelan National Assembly, elected in 2015 and sworn in on 5 January 2016. He was a student leader at the Central University of Venezuela (UCV), and a leader of student opposition protesters during the 2014 Venezuelan protests. He led marches opposing the Government of Venezuela under President Nicolás Maduro, seeking "to turn the student rebellion into a broader social movement".
Hugo Armando Carvajal Barrios, nicknamed El Pollo, is a Venezuelan diplomat and retired general. He was the head of the military intelligence in Venezuela during Hugo Chávez's government, from July 2004 to December 2011. Carvajal was arrested in Spain on 12 April 2019 based on an arrest warrant from the United States for 2011 drug trafficking charges; the U.S. asked Spain to extradite Carvajal. After the Spanish courts approved his extradition to the United States Carvajal went into hiding. On 26 March 2020, the U.S. Department of State offered $10 million for information to bring him to justice in relation to drug trafficking and narco-terrorism. On 9 September 2021 he was arrested by Spanish police in an apartment in Madrid. On 19 July 2023, Carjaval was extradited to the United States.
The Narcosobrinos affair is the situation of events that surrounded two nephews of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores who were arrested for narcotics trafficking. The nephews, Efraín Antonio Campo Flores and Francisco Flores de Freitas, were arrested on 10 November 2015 by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration in Port-au-Prince, Haiti after attempting to transport 800 kilograms of cocaine into the United States. A year later on 18 November 2016, the two nephews were found guilty, with the cash allegedly destined to "help their family stay in power". On 14 December 2017, the two were sentenced to 18 years of imprisonment.
Paul Nicholas Whelan is a Canadian-born former United States Marine with U.S., British, Irish, and Canadian citizenship. He was arrested in Russia on December 28, 2018, and accused of spying. On June 15, 2020, he received a 16-year prison sentence.
The Venezuelan presidential crisis was a political crisis concerning the leadership and the legitimate president of Venezuela between 2019 and 2023, with the nation and the world divided in support for Nicolás Maduro or Juan Guaidó.
Roberto Eugenio Marrero Borjas is a Venezuelan attorney, politician, and chief of staff to Juan Guaidó; he was arrested by SEBIN during a raid on his home in the early morning hours of 21 March 2019, and detained in El Helicoide, a prison run by SEBIN and "considered the country's largest torture center" according to Clarín. Marrero is also an attorney for Leopoldo López; López is Guaidó's mentor and a political prisoner.
Alex Nain Saab Morán is a Colombian businessman. Saab was the subject of journalistic investigations for conducting businesses estimated at US$135 million with the Venezuelan government, while other Colombian businessmen had stopped exporting to Venezuela due to uncertainty regarding payments and tight exchange controls. Saab's name has appeared in multiple ICIJ leaks including the Panama Papers, Pandora Papers and the FinCEN Files.
Operation Gideon was an unsuccessful attempt by the Active Coalition of the Venezuelan International Reserve, Venezuelan dissidents, and a private security firm, Jordan Goudreau's Silvercorp USA, to infiltrate Venezuela by sea and remove Nicolás Maduro from power. The plan executed from 3 to 4 May 2020 was for expatriate Venezuelan military living in Colombia to enter the country by boat at Macuto, take control of an airfield, capture Maduro and other high-level figures in his administration, and expel them from the country.
Roger Dean Carstens is an American diplomat and retired United States Army Special Forces lieutenant colonel. Carstens has served as the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs (SPEHA) since 2020.
Emad Shargi is an Iranian-American businessman. On April 23, 2018, during a trip to Iran, Shargi and his wife were taken into custody by Iranian authorities and held in Evin prison. Emad Shargi was taken to a Tehran court on November 30, 2020, where he was informed that he had been convicted of espionage without a trial and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Iran does not recognize dual citizenship, depriving prisoners like Shargi of consular assistance and diplomatic access.
The Citgo Six is the name by which six senior executives of Citgo, detained in Venezuela, are known. Citgo is a subsidiary of the state-owned oil company Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA).
Trevor R. Reed is a United States Marine Corps veteran who was arrested in Russia in 2019 for violence against a Russian police officer. He was later sentenced to nine years in prison. His arrest has been criticized as motivated by political purposes. Following his arrest, his family engaged in a public advocacy campaign in order to secure his release from Russia.
Eyvin Hernandez is a Salvadoran American lawyer who works in the Los Angeles County Public Defender's Office in California. Hernandez was imprisoned in Venezuela after being arrested by Venezuelan military agents in March 2022. He was released on December 20, 2023.
Bring Our Families Home (BOFH) is a campaign by family members of American hostages and detainees advocating for their immediate release. The James Foley Legacy Foundation claims that there are approximately sixty Americans who are being held hostage or wrongfully detained abroad. The Foley Foundation provides support to BOFH.
On December 8, 2022, Russia and the United States conducted a prisoner exchange, trading Brittney Griner, an American basketball player, for Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer. Griner, a WNBA champion star and Team USA Olympic athlete, had been convicted of smuggling and possession of cannabis in Russia earlier in 2022 and sentenced to nine years in prison. Bout had been arrested in Thailand in 2008 and transferred to the custody of the United States, where he was convicted of terrorism-related charges and sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2012. The exchange took place at Al Bateen Executive Airport in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, following months of negotiations.
Evan Gershkovich is an American journalist and reporter at The Wall Street Journal covering Russia. He was detained by Russia's Federal Security Service on charges of espionage in March 2023, marking the first time a journalist working for an American outlet had been arrested on charges of spying in Russia since the Cold War. The White House and media advocacy groups have condemned the arrest.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link){{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help){{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help){{cite web}}: External link in |title=