A group of relatives of political prisoners called for an end to the use of criminal justice for “politically motivated retaliation and the criminalization of the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly.” They also called for the immediate release of all those detained for political reasons.
A group of relatives of political prisoners and people detained under the Anti-Terrorism Law protested on the morning of Thursday 18th in front of the headquarters of the Public Ministry and demanded that the prosecutor appointed by the constituent assembly, Tarek William Saab, review the cases and address the complaints of torture and cruel treatment that have been expressed by the detainees on multiple occasions.
Under the cry of “justice and freedom” and “fighting for rights is not terrorism”, the group handed over a document to the MP –signed by relatives of 37 political prisoners– where they ask for an end to the use of criminal justice for “retaliation for political reasons and the criminalization of the rights to free expression, association and peaceful assembly.”
They also requested the immediate release of all those detained for political reasons, compliance with the Special Law against Torture and investigation of officials accused of these crimes, “to help reduce the high rate of occurrence of these human rights abuses.”
Daniel Zambrano, father of brothers Juan and Daniel Zambrano Arias, asked the Prosecutor’s Office to review the files, the complaints of torture of his two sons and also to allow Juan Nahir Zambrano to be transferred to a health center.
He said that on July 3 he started to have a fever and only 10 days later he was transferred to a health center in Ocumare del Tuy. After some tests, they detected fluid in his lungs and diagnosed him with pneumonia. His father said that Juan Nahir should be in a hospital and not in the Yare prison where he contracted the disease.
Francis Fernández, wife of journalist Carlos Julio Rojas, defended the activist’s innocence and asked the attorney general to deliver a report on the investigation he began three months ago into the alleged assassination attempt against President Nicolás Maduro.
The wife of journalist Carlos Julio Rojas asked prosecutor Tarek William Saab to review the cases of political prisoners. “There is a lot of impunity and that does not leave him in a good light.”
He reported that Rojas, who is being held at the Sebin Helicoide, has a fever and other health problems that have not been treated by the doctors at that facility. “They also limit themselves to giving information for one reason or another that we all know here.”
On March 29, 2023, as part of the Pdvsa Crypto Plot The drivers Jean Meyer, Miguel Irigoyen, Luis Guzmán and Ramón Cardozo were arrested. Liz Mejías, a relative of one of the detainees, asked prosecutor Tarek William Saab to review their cases.
The group was accused of criminal association and misappropriation of property. Three of them are being held at the PNB headquarters in the Boleíta residential area and another was sent to the Yare III prison in Miranda state.
Mejías claimed that they are innocent and were not even on the Pdvsa payroll. “They do not belong to Tareck El Aissami’s network, they did not steal the millions, they do not even have a bicycle (…) These four boys are innocent, they were only drivers. We ask that justice be done. Just like them, there are many innocent people, unjustly detained,” he said.
Relatives of political prisoners and prisoners of the so-called Anti-Terrorist Law also demanded that “the moral, emotional and economic damages that these processes have generated” be repaired, and that the authorities allow the visit of the UN Special Rapporteur against Torture and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to the country.
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