Photo: Federico Parra Agence France-Presse Relatives of people arrested during protests following the disputed July 28 presidential election await their release outside Yare prison in San Francisco de Yare, Venezuela, November 16, 2024.
Barbara Agelvis – Agence France-Presse and Patrick Fort – Agence France-Presse
Published at 14:51
- Americas
At least 70 people out of the approximately 2,400 officially arrested after Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s contested re-election in late July were released on Saturday, the day after prosecutors announced that they were reviewing 225 cases.
“So far, at least 70 political prisoners have been released,” said the director of the NGO Foro Penal, Alfredo Romero, on social media.
These releases took place in four prisons in the country: around fifty “young adults” detained in Tocoron (Aragua state) were granted conditional release, ten people were released in Yare III (Miranda state), and the others in Las Crisalidas (Miranda) and Tocuyito (Carabobo state), he detailed.
These releases have not been officially announced.
According to official sources, some 2,400 people were arrested after the spontaneous demonstrations that broke out on July 28 when the of Mr. Maduro's victory.
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The opposition cries fraud and claims victory for its candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia. The United States, Europe and many Latin American countries do not recognize this re-election.
The toll of the post-election violence also stands at 28 dead and nearly 200 injured, according to Attorney General Tarek William Saab.
200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000From the early hours of the day, rumors of imminent release brought dozens of relatives of detainees to the prisons.
“We came today because we heard about it on social media,” Alexandra Hurtado, 47, told AFP, who was waiting with about 50 other people in front of Yare III, wearing a shirt with a photo of her son, Oscar Escalona, 23, and the slogan: “He's not a terrorist, he's innocent.”
“It's an emotional roller coaster. It's like being in a maternity ward when you're waiting for your baby to come into the world,” added Michell Hurtado, Oscar's aunt. “We're pushing,” continued the young man's mother.
In front of Las Crisalidas prison, a group is also waiting for women to be released.
“These four months have been horrible, seeing my daughter cry […] I told her that mommy was coming back,” Junior, a 34-year-old cook, told AFP. He preferred not to give his last name, while waiting to find out if his wife would be released.
“Inhumane conditions”
These releases come the day after the Venezuelan prosecutor's office announced the re-examination of 225 cases, at the request of President Maduro himself. “If there are cases to be rectified and re-examined, it is also so that justice is done […] in case there was some kind of procedural error,” the president said Monday.
The prosecutor's office has held meetings this week with relatives of many detainees who say they did not participate in the protests or were tortured.
“Anyone who was responsible for criminal actions […] will be punished, anyone who was not responsible for such actions will be subject to a review of their prison sentence,” the prosecutor said on Friday.
Hundreds of families had organized demonstrations in recent weeks to demand the release of their detained relatives.
The opposition regularly denounces the “inhumane” conditions of detention of those arrested.
On Thursday, an opposition activist died in detention from a heart problem associated with complications related to diabetes. The day before, his family had denounced the poor condition of a leg, necrotic, which should have been amputated.
Foro Penal had castigated on Thursday a “repressive crisis” in Venezuela “with this enormous figure of 1,976 political prisoners”, compared to 305 before the presidential election of July 28.
“We are talking about the largest number of political prisoners in the 21st century, the largest number of political prisoners in the entire American continent,” Mr Romero told AFP at the time.
Since the contested re-election of President Maduro, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia has taken refuge in Spain and the opposition leader, Maria Corina Machado, has been living in hiding.
They both received the Sakharov Prize, the European Union's highest distinction for human rights, at the end of October.