The NGO Foro Penal reported the sentence against five political prisoners of 30 years in prison imposed by Judge Alejandra Romero, for the crimes of treason, criminal association and attempted intentional homicide.
The legal coordinator of the Penal Forum in Caracas, Stefania Migliorini, reported on the night of Friday, August 9, that five political prisoners who had been detained since 2020 and 2022 were sentenced to the maximum penalty of 30 years in prison, having been accused by the court of the crimes of treason, criminal association and attempted intentional homicide.
The sentence of Judge Alejandra Romero was imposed on the university professor and member of the opposition party Citizen Meeting Robert Franco, the young Darío Estrada who has autism and three other people.
“Unfortunately, they were sentenced to 30 years in prison for the crimes of treason, criminal association and attempted intentional homicide. They were convicted without yet having sufficient evidence to prove “That they did indeed know each other. That they were an organized group and that they wanted to plan such acts,” Migliorini said.
Robert Franco is a physical education teacher and general secretary of the Venezuelan Teachers’ Association in Sucre state. On December 26, 2020, he was arrested by a commission of the Special Action Forces (FAES) in Karupana Park, in Carúpano, Sucre state, and was transferred to the FAES headquarters in San Martín, Caracas.
He was charged with attempted murder against prosecutor Tarek William Saab, boycotting the installation of the National Assembly and attempted murder against former governor Jonathan Marín. Retired police commissioner Rigoberto Moreno, Darío Estrada and Edgar García Pacheco were also charged with these crimes.
His family claimed at the time that the reason for his arrest was because Franco questioned government policies and defended workers’ rights.
For its part, Encuentro Ciudadano condemned the judge’s decision by pointing out that in the country “the justice system is used for political persecution.”
“We inform the country and the international community that at this moment Judge Alejandra Romero has sentenced the political prisoner, Darío Estrada, to 30 years in prison. He is a member of our organization and has been deprived of his freedom since 2022,” the political party announced on its social networks.
Estrada has been detained since December 24, 2020 for the alleged boycott operation that would be carried out in the installation of the National Assembly (AN) On January 5, 2021, a week before the swearing-in of the majority pro-government deputies, the then Minister of the Interior and Justice, Carmen Meléndez, stated that they had “thwarted a terrorist attack with several civilian and military targets, including the Guri hydroelectric plant and the Amuay refinery,” after the capture of five alleged perpetrators in Lara, Sucre and Caracas.
He is a petroleum engineer who lived in Barquisimeto, Lara state, and is a neurodivergent person and is on the autism spectrum. He was accused of belonging to a WhatsApp group in which plans were being made against the administration of Nicolás Maduro.
With information from The Whistle
*Read also: Penal Forum records 1,303 arrests as of August 10 in post-election protests
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