The Amnesty Law for Democratic Coexistence expressly excludes military personnel and civilians accused of being involved in conspiracies or uprisings with the support of foreign countries. Relatives of detainees in Zone 7, whom Jorge Rodríguez promised to release once the law was approved, watched the debate on their cell phones.
The National Assembly unanimously approved this Thursday, February 19, the Amnesty Law for Democratic Coexistence, an instrument composed of 16 articles that seeks to benefit people linked to political events. To supervise its application, Parliament appointed a special commission of 23 deputies who will also ensure the proper use of the Anti-Hate Law.
The commission will be chaired by Jorge Arreaza and will have deputy Nora Bracho as vice president. It also includes Pedro Infante, Grecia Colmenares, Carolina García Carreño, Tania Díaz, Nicolás Ernesto Maduro Guerra and Cilia Flores, despite being detained in the United States since January 3, along with Nicolás Maduro, among other parliamentarians.
During the session, the president of Parliament, Jorge Rodríguez, reported that the coexistence and peace program evaluates the scope of the Law Against Hate and announced that “it is very likely” that this norm will be reformed. «There were situations of misuse of the Law Against Hate. That is true and it has to be corrected,” he said.
The discussion of the project had been postponed last week due to disagreements between pro-government and opposition deputies on the scope of the beneficiaries of the amnesty. Although the opposition bench voted in favor of article 7, Bracho explained that they did so because they are “committed to the freedom of political prisoners and the persecuted.”
The deputy insisted that the law must operate fully, without restrictive procedures for its beneficiaries, and stated that they should receive preferential treatment “to give peace of mind to those who are unjustly deprived of liberty.” He also highlighted that article 7 allows the legal representation of people who are abroad and for them to remain free.
The Amnesty Law for Democratic Coexistence expressly excludes military personnel and civilians accused of being involved in conspiracies or uprisings with the support of foreign countries. Relatives of detainees in Zone 7, whom Jorge Rodríguez promised to release once the law was approved, watched the debate on their cell phones.
Tensions in the debate
The session was marked by some exchanges between parliamentarians from both groups. Arreaza assured that a broad debate had previously been held with “great consensus”, so he asked to avoid the plenary discussion being used to reopen each article or to “gain some adhesions with political calculations.”
In the midst of the opposition interventions, Rodríguez requested “order and calm” from the pro-government deputies. He even, in an ironic tone, commented that a relaxation technique he had practiced before the session “had not worked for him” and asked to move forward with the vote.
One of the points of friction was the opposition’s request to eliminate the word “violent” from the fourth event contemplated in article 8. Deputy Luis Florido argued that the events “may or may not be violent.” Arreaza responded that this modification “was neither debated, nor discussed, nor put to a vote, nor agreed upon.”
The interventions revealed differences on some aspects of the final wording of the text and on the scope of the consensus reached during the previous discussions.
Rodríguez maintained that the amnesty “refers to facts” and not to specific people, and stated that cases that generally cover the Venezuelan criminal system could not be included.
*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 was written taking into consideration the threats and limits that, consequently, have been imposed on the dissemination of information from within the country.
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