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USA reaction to the arrest of Joseph Assad

Džozef Asad

The State Department is familiar with the reports on the arrest of Joseph Assad, a former CIA operative, in Abu Dhabi but cannot comment the case for privacy reasons, the Voice of America, VOA, reported.

The security and safety of the US citizens are the topmost priorities, according to the State Department.

For a quick recap: Yesterday Pobjeda, a daily, wrote that the ex-CIA agent Joseph Assad had been arrested in Abu Dhabi after Montenegro issued an international arrest warrant for his alleged involvement in a failed pro-Russia coup attempt on 16 October 2016.

Pobjeda also wrote that prosecutors in Montenegro earlier called for the arrest of a former CIA officer accusing him of involvement in an alleged Russian-backed coup attempt in 2016, conspiring to bring down the government.

After he was arrested, the United States tried to use the diplomatic relations and required Assad to be released from detention. This has been the US procedure whenever their citizens are arrested abroad. According to the US procedures, the American state secretary, upon the proposal of a judge, makes the final decision on the extradition.

The ex-CIA operative earlier avoided testimony recalling the 5th amendment to the Constitution of the USA, allowing the US citizens to decline to answer questions where the answers might incriminate them, Pobjeda said.

 

 

 

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