Virgilio Laverde, youth coordinator of Vente in Bolívar state, was arrested on the night of August 15 when he left his residence in the Cathedral Parish of Angostura del Orinoco. He was arrested without a warrant and taken to the Cicpc headquarters in that town. His lawyers reported that he was taken to the city of Caracas to be presented for “inciting hatred” and “terrorism.”
The Vente Venezuela party reported on Tuesday, August 20, that its youth coordinator in the state of Bolívar, Virgilio Laverde, was arrested on August 15 in Ciudad Bolívar by officials of the Scientific, Criminal and Criminal Investigations Corps (CICPC).
Laverde, 24, from Upata, was a few weeks away from his graduation ceremony as a doctor from the University of Oriente. His lawyers claimed that he was transferred to the city of Caracas to be presented for “inciting hatred” and “terrorism” before a court with jurisdiction over terrorist crimes.
“Since then, he has been the victim of arbitrary detention, without access to private lawyers and in violation of due process,” the party said.
Virgilio Laverde, youth coordinator of @VenteJoven In Bolívar he was arrested last Thursday, August 15, by CICPC officials.
Virgilio is the victim of arbitrary detention, with no access to private lawyers and violation of due process. #FreeVirginia pic.twitter.com/1460K4KLZY
— YoungPeopleWithVzla (@JovenesConVzla_) August 20, 2024
According to leaders of the organization who are in contact with his family, the young man was arrested on the night of August 15 when he left his residence in the Cathedral Parish of Angostura del Orinoco. He was arrested without a warrant and taken to the CICPC headquarters in the town.
«The arrest took place between approximately 11:00 and 12:00 at night. At his residence in Ciudad Bolívar. We deduced from the neighbors that he went out to the front and the officers were already outside his house and they took him away arbitrarily. They had no arrest warrant. There is no justification for why they had taken him away. So far there has been no mistreatment. He is fine. He is in prison, but he has not been physically or psychologically mistreated,» said a source close to the family.
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The Laverde family managed to have contact with the young man only once, for five minutes. “He was taken to court yesterday for the trial and today we have information that he was transferred to a second trial via telematics with Caracas. He is a medical student, he is one week away from his protocol acts. He has dedicated himself to being a student and a political activist, defender of democracy and truth. For expressing an opinion different from the government, he was deprived of his liberty. He has never been in misunderstandings. We have evidence of a letter of good conduct from the university to be included in his file,” added the source.
According to information from those close to him, the decision was to refer the case of the Vente coordinator to national courts. “The pain of a mother and a father is the cry of millions of parents in Venezuela who are suffering the same thing when their children are good boys. With values and principles. And one day they wake up to the news that their son is in prison and for something that is not his. It is the pain of a mother who was about to see her son achieve his greatest goal and they cut short such a beautiful moment as a family,” he said.
With information from Caroni Mail
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