Human rights NGOs hope that more releases will take place and insist that there is “a lot of anguish” among the relatives of those imprisoned. They demand that all political prisoners be released
The president of the Penal Forum, Alfredo Romero, reported on the night of Friday, January 16, that new releases of political prisoners had been confirmed. That night, relatives of the detainees held a vigil outside the Yare prison, Miranda state.
“Tonight at least 16 other political prisoners in Venezuela have been released,” Romero stated in his count ofwithout specifying their identities and the detention centers where they remained.
During the course of this Saturday, January 17, various releases in the country have been known, reported on social networks.
Through the account in Helicoid Reality X 10 releases are confirmed since the previous night. The political prisoners who received precautionary measures identified are: Enderson Rivas, Carlos Azuaje, Jesús Ramírez, Cipriano Díaz, Romel Zabala, Carlos Martínez, Jesús David Pirela Gil, Jonas Villasmil Atencio, Deyker López Pérez and Carlos Aponte.
The Penal Forum also announced the release of a Ukrainian citizen. The organization’s vice president, Gonzalo Himiob, stated that Yevhenii Trush was “arbitrarily detained.” on October 20, 2024.
#17Jan The release of the young Ukrainian within the spectrum confirmed #Autistic YEVHENII TRUSH, who had been arbitrarily detained since 10/20/2024. pic.twitter.com/c2BIeA50iL
— Gonzalo Himiob S. (@HimiobSantome) January 17, 2026
Until the afternoon of January 16, both the NGO Justicia, Encuentro y Perdón and the Penal Forum verified the release of 116 people. They explained that they were notified by the Penitentiary Ministry last Monday, the 12th of this month, but indicated that “they were given in dribs and drabs and gradually over at least eight days.”
Foro Penal assures that despite the releases, there are still more than 700 political prisoners in the country, according to the list they managed until January 8; But they warn that the figure may be higher because they have found cases of relatives who had not notified the arrests “out of fear.” They hope to update and publish a new document with the identities.
Human rights NGOs hope that more releases will take place and insist that there is “a lot of anguish” among the relatives of those imprisoned, who have been stationed outside different prisons.
Delcy Rodríguez, in charge of the Executive, said on January 14 that since December 2025, 406 releases had been carried out and stated that this process “has not yet ended” and that it continues, coordinated with the country’s justice system; specifically in charge of the Minister of the Interior, Justice and Peace, Diosdado Cabello.
*Read also: Delcy Rodríguez says that the releases “have not ended” and there are “406 releases”
*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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