Chris Van Hollen Reveals He Was Stopped By Police While Trying To Visit Kilmar Abrego Garcia

Forbes Breaking News

At a press briefing on Thursday, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) spoke about how he was stopped by police in El Salvador while trying to visit Kilmar Abrego Garcia.

Transcript

00:00Our goal was very simple today, which was to check on the health and well-being of Gilmar.

00:16But we were stopped by soldiers at a checkpoint about three kilometers from the Seacock prison.

00:30We were told by the soldiers that they'd been ordered not to allow us to proceed any further than that point.

00:47I should point out that since Mr. Abrego Garcia was illegally abducted and sent to Seacock,

00:56he has had no communication with anybody on the outside.

01:14His wife and his lawyers have tried to make contact with them. They've not been able to.

01:21Tanto su esposa como sus abogados han tratado de contactarse con ellos sin ningún resultado positivo.

01:27His mother wants to make contact with them. She's not been able to.

01:36And I, of course, tried to make contact with him because he resides in the state of Maryland,

01:44and that is where his wife and mother and brother also reside.

01:49So there's been no ability, no ability to find out anything about his health and well-being.

02:09The U.S. Embassy here has not been asked by the Trump administration to inquire about his health and well-being.

02:26And I should point out that this inability to communicate with his lawyers is a violation of international law.

02:47El Salvador is a party to the international covenant on civil and political rights.

03:06El Salvador has signed and ratified that covenant.

03:16El Salvador ha firmado y ratificado ese convenio.

03:20And that covenant says, and I quote,

03:26a detained or imprisoned person shall be entitled to communicate and consult with his legal counsel, unquote.

03:36And I have to say, and I quote, and I quote,

03:40and I quote, what the Convenio says,

03:42that a person who is detained or arrested has all the right to communicate or do consult with his legal counsel.

03:50And that is why I want to submit Facebook with his legal counsel in the United States.

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