The released adolescents will have to appear before court every eight days, said the lawyer and director of the Penal Forum, Gonzalo Himiob, after a hearing that was held without access to private defense.
Venezuelan authorities released 16 teenagers on Thursday, August 29, who had been detained amid the post-election crisis unleashed after the questioned re-election of President Nicolás Maduro, the NGO reported. Criminal Forum who leads the defense of political prisoners in the country.
“Four female adolescents and 12 male adolescents who had been deprived of their liberty in Caracas since July 29 due to post-election situations were released,” said the Penal Forum on its X account. at the end of the preliminary hearing of the young people, which was held without access to private defense.
The teenagers will have to appear before the courts every eight days, he told the AFP According to the NGO’s records, more than 100 teenagers have been arrested and charged with crimes of terrorism or treason in Venezuela amid the post-electoral crisis, said lawyer and director of Foro Penal, Gonzalo Himiob.
Authorities have not commented on the arrests of teenagers, but have confirmed 2,400 detentions following protests that erupted hours after the July 28 election in which Maduro was declared the winner with 52 percent of the vote amid opposition allegations of fraud.
Of this total, the Criminal Forum has registered 1,581 detainees as “political prisoners” and continues to receive complaints and record cases.
“What they have done is brutal (…) children kidnapped from Nicolás Maduro, children who have been beaten and forced to record videos praising Nicolás Maduro, children of 13 years old, 14 years old, and they have been taken to prisons where common prisoners are held,” denounced the opposition leader María Corina Machado the day before, who asked the detainees to take care of the adolescents.
Maduro provided two maximum security prisons, Tocuyito and Tocorón, to hold those arrested. Both prisons were controlled by criminal gangs for years until they were occupied by law enforcement in 2023. The protests have also resulted in 27 deaths and 192 injuries.
The Penal Forum indicated on Wednesday that Venezuela currently has the highest number of “political prisoners” in almost 25 years, with 1,780 detainees. As of July 28, it had recorded 199 detainees for political reasons.
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