Relatives of political prisoners were harassed by PNB officials to get as far away as possible from the Helicoide entrance. Around 100 detainees for political reasons are imprisoned in this Sebin headquarters, called the “largest torture center in Latin America” by human rights organizations.
With prayers and shouts of “freedom” the relatives of political prisoners requested their immediate release before Christmas.
«Eternal Father, we ask forgiveness if we have made any mistake (…) Lord, everyone who is here is innocent. “Today is the day of the Miraculous, I know that your little virgin is going to perform the miracle because you are a mother,” asked the sister of journalist Luis López, one of the relatives gathered on the afternoon of this Wednesday the 27th in front of the Sebin headquarters. Helicoid.
We don’t want visitors, we want them free, insisted Mary López, who must visit her brother frequently to give him food, clean clothes or any medicine he needs.
Around 100 political prisoners are imprisoned in this Sebin headquarters, called the “largest torture center in Latin America” by human rights organizations.
Relatives such as Francis Fernández, wife of journalist Carlos Julio Rojas, reported that they are victims of mistreatment by the guards. They experienced a similar situation during the vigil organized by the Committee of Relatives for the Freedom of Political Prisonersas they were harassed by PNB officials to get as far away as possible from the Helicoide entrance.
In recent days, Fernández also reported that the activist, imprisoned since April for his alleged involvement in an assassination attempt against Nicolás Maduro, shares a cell with 14 other people. Every day he visits the place to deliver food.
“We are turning to faith,” said Fernández, who also said she felt psychologically violated by the officials. His request, like that of Aurora Silva, wife of leader Freddy Superlano, is for “freedom” and “dignity.”
«We raise a prayer for the freedom of all political prisoners, so that all their rights are respected. “Freddy has been detained for 120 days and we have not been able to see him,” Silva highlighted, while commenting that this has impacted the well-being of his two daughters.
Carol Figueredo has also not been able to see her husband, Pedro Guanipa, for 70 days. The office secretary of the Maracaibo Mayor’s Office was arrested on the border with Colombia, when he was heading to Bogotá for a family reunion.
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Pedro Guanipa is in the same case with four other people for alleged corruption. «To them (political prisoners) all rights are denied. How is it possible that in all this time we have not been able to see him, we have not been able to talk to him. “His children, his wife, his brothers, no one knows about him,” the woman said.
Old and new political prisoners
Inside the Helicoide there are political prisoners of old and new, such as the Guevara brothers, who have already been detained for 20 years, or Luis Istúriz, one of the coordinators of Vente Venezuela in the state of Miranda and detained on August 24 in a police checkpoint. The brothers Rolando and Otoniel Guevara, like their cousin Juan Bautista Guevara, were sentenced to 30 years in prison for the death of prosecutor Danilo Anderson.
José Luis Guevara, brother of Juan Bautista, recalled that his uncles died and were never able to see their children free. «They have already been in prison for 20 years, they were sown by the death of prosecutor Danilo Anderson. We ask for your freedom. “That’s enough.”
By the Organic Code of Criminal Procedure, the Guevara brothers and their cousin should have accessed alternative measures to serve their sentence, but the courts have systematically denied their requests.
«Really enough, this is enough. It has been a lifetime of them imprisoned here. Their lives were transformed,” he claimed.
José Luis and his father requested that the Guevaras be included in the case reviews announced by the Prosecutor’s Office. “We hope they can have an opportunity to review it well and realize that they have nothing to do with the case, they were planted.”
Yelitze Espinoza, Istúriz’s mother, was barely able to see him a month and a half ago when visits were authorized. «He maintains his convictions because he is fighting for a better country (…) What we do is have faith, pray and come. There are three days that you have parcels, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. “We come so that you know that you are not alone.”
Luis Istúriz, like other prisoners, has a public defense that has not even been able to access the file because it was classified as a “State reserve.” He was accused of six alleged crimes such as forging public documents, usurpation and instigating disobedience of the laws.
It’s very hard, said Istúriz’s mother, about to burst into tears. «I am as imprisoned as he is, it changes your life. “He’s afraid to talk to you, he doesn’t call me because he’s afraid and he doesn’t know if that could cause problems for me, but we will continue fighting because he’s not going to be detained and we’re not going to be doing anything.”
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