Judge Sara Cockerill, of the High Court of London, ruled this Friday in favor of the council of the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) appointed by the opposition Juan Guaidó in The case of Venezuelan gold deposited with the Bank of England.

After a four-day trial that ended on July 18, Cockerill considered it he cannot take the sentences of the Venezuelan Supreme Court at face value of having canceled Guaidó’s appointments to that council, as there was no “legal basis” in the UK to do so.

The judge However, he did not authorize the opposing team to access the reserves – something that will have to be determined at another hearing – despite the fact that the meeting is considered valid and Guaidó is recognized by the British government as the only legitimate interim president of the Latin American country.

British justice had begun to examine on Wednesday 13 July whether to accept the decisions of the Venezuelan Supreme Court in the framework of the long litigation between Nicolás Maduro and Juan Guaidó for the control of the gold reserves deposited with the Bank of England.

The Venezuelan power and the opposition have been facing each other since 2019 for access to 32 tons of goldworth over a billion dollars, they have been kept in the basement of the British institute for years.

In July of that year Guaidó, self-proclaimed “president in office” of Venezuela and recognized as such by fifty countries – including the United Kingdom -, appointed its board of directors of the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV), which ordered the Bank of England not to hand over the bars to the official board of directors, chaired by Calixto Ortega, arguing that the government would use the funds to crack down on the population.

The appointments made by Guaidó were, however, invalidated by the Venezuelan Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ), loyal to Maduro.

After deciding in December, at the end of a two-year legal battle, that British justice actually recognizes Guaidó as the country’s legitimate and only representative, the Supreme Court of London still ordered analyze whether the Venezuelan judicial decision effectively invalidates their appointments.

Judge Sara Cockerill, of the London Commercial Court, has now ruled on this, that heard arguments and witnesses from both sides.

Guaidó’s lawyers denounce that the Venezuelan judicial process that overturned his appointments was not “a fair trial under British rules” because the opposition did not opportunity to defend.

Source: EFE.