The former prosecutor of the Public Ministry Zair Mundaray analyzed the arrest and subsequent release on January 9 of María Corina Machado and concluded that there are pieces that do not fit into the official version, such as the parade of different protagonists on the scene. He described the capture of his driver in a hotel as a null procedure from the beginning. He said that all protocols were disrespected and there is no way to prove if he was injured or not.
An alleged order and another counterorder, a brief detention of María Corina Machado and the video of the arrest of the driver of the motorcycle where the opposition leader was mobilized on January 9. Episodes that fall apart in the complicated political and social puzzle called Venezuela.
The pieces that don’t fit in the MCM arrest was the topic this Tuesday, January 14, of La Conversa of the Rebel Alliance Investigates (ARI) made up of Runrun.es, El Pitazo and SuchWhich.
This edition of La Conversa had former Public Prosecutor Zair Mundaray as a guest and was moderated by Ronna Risquez, director of ARI and Victims Monitor; César Batiz, director of El Pitazo, and Víctor Amaya, director of TalCual.
Mundaray maintained that in the confusing episode of Machado’s arrest After leading a rally in Caracas, it is perceived that there was an order and another that annulled it some time later. “That is why we see an erratic action, they march decisively to arrest MCM and then say that they are escorting her,” he said. A journalistic team of Venezuela Time She took the tour that MCM did and confirmed that barely five minutes elapsed between the moment she was detained and the moment her captors released her.
Mundaray ruled that Machado was detained by members of the Bolivarian National Police (PNB) and that establishes an indication. “This is important because the PNB reports to the Minister of the Interior and Justice, while the Sebin and the Dgcim report to the presidency. Here we can splitting who acts and who orders.”
Despite all the opacity surrounding Machado’s arrest, the lawyer indicated that the only certainty is that there was a conflict between detaining and releasing. “The one who detains is saying to the one who releases: solve this for me. And in a fairly coherent way.”
Mundaray asserted that the government’s objective is to try to undermine the credibility of MCM. “Whoever gave the original order to stop her needs to amend everything, give it a semblance of legality and say that what we all saw happened, did not happen.”
The criminalist assured that the person carrying out Machado’s arrest is a PNB commissioner named Gustavo García, whose bosses are Carlos Calderón and José Miguel Domínguez “Miguelito”, both sanctioned by the United States Department of the Treasury in 2019 and the latter also named in reports from the UN Fact-Finding Mission for alleged crimes against humanity.
Mundaray said that between the first graphic where MCM is seen leaving the rally, the other in which he rebukes a member of the PNB on board a motorcycle, whose driver is a man in a red shirt, and a third in the distributor Altamira in which it was intercepted, there are obvious differences.
“The motorcycles are different, one is an older model than the other and the driver of this one, who was initially reported to be Roalmi Alberto Cabeza, does not look alike. It is not difficult to know the identity of the person in the red shirt driving the motorcycle, it can be done with an anthropometric investigation based on the photo, the build and height are evaluated, there are a number of elements that allow us to know if it is the same person.”
*Read also: The Conversation | The “crazy hour” was the preamble to the swearing-in
Was he injured or not?
Following the dissemination of the video of Roalmi Alberto Cabeza’s arrest in a hotel in the capital by the government itself, Mundaray indicated that it is not possible to determine if there was actually a gunshot wound in the context of MCM’s arrest.
“Is this video enough to say that the man was injured or not? No. Because if you have a gunshot wound that enters and exits soft tissue, it is not visible on video. If the bullet had hit hard tissue, a ligament or a bone, he wouldn’t be standing there. In so many years investigating homicides I have seen entry and exit in soft tissue where the injury is minimal.”
Amaya noted that “society always needs proof of what is said, it is essential from the media’s point of view.”
The lawyer indicated that the procedure in which Cabeza is apprehended is void from the moment of admission.
“And thank goodness they recorded it so that it was stipulated. The State itself makes the video available, the Ministry of the Interior and Justice has generated a document that demonstrates all the shortcomings of the procedures that violate fundamental human rights”.
In Mundaray’s opinion, the video demonstrates that the story predominates over the procedure and the review.
The former prosecutor stated that from 9E until the moment of his arrest, Cabeza was in forced disappearance
“Forced disappearance has become a government policy. It is necessary to clarify that forced disappearance is not kidnapping, kidnapping is committed by anyone, forced disappearance is carried out by a State official or a person acting with the acquiescence of the government, a group, for example.”
Mundaray indicated that Venezuela is a signatory of the UN international convention against forced disappearances.
The lawyer assured that at the time of a procedure, the detainee has the right to legal assistance, based on what article 44 of the Constitution states: “No detained person can be arrested or detained, except by virtue of a court order, unless she is caught red-handed. In this case, it will be brought before a judicial authority within a period of no more than forty-eight hours from the moment of arrest.”
The criminologist expressed that the interrogation to which Cabeza is subjected is irregular.
“The only way for a detained person to testify is in front of a supervisory judge, with legal assistance.”
The expert considered that the first duty of an official is to identify himself.
“There is no search warrant and the police officer tells him that no one is looking for him. They could have planted anything with that man. To arrest someone, a court order is required or the subject is caught in flagrante delicto.”
Batiz expressed that it is curious that Cabeza is accused of having committed the crime of association to commit a crime. “If he was associated, it is with María Corina and they released her.”
Mundaray indicated that the hotel room where Cabeza was located is considered a private area and was under the protection of article 47 of the Constitution, which states: “the domestic home and all private areas of the person are inviolable. They may not be searched except by means of a court order, to prevent the perpetration of a crime or to comply, in accordance with the law, with the decisions issued by the courts, always respecting the dignity of the human being.”
The lawyer recalled that in every review there must be witnesses according to the Organic Code of Criminal Procedure.
“And the person can request a third party that has nothing to do with the police.”
Mundaray stated that the video is an example of all the shortcomings of the Venezuelan justice system.
“They did not take care of any details, this story is won by those who believe in the regime’s version. The shorts that they put on him with the United States flag are to create a matter of impact.”
*Journalism in Venezuela is carried out in a hostile environment for the press with dozens of legal instruments in place to punish the word, especially the laws “against hate”, “against fascism” and “against the blockade.” This content is being published taking into consideration the threats and limits that have consequently been imposed on the dissemination of information from within the country.
Post Views: 663
