The Inter-American Court requires the Venezuelan State to reform military laws so that they apply to those who are active. He highlighted that the detention of Ovidio Poggioli was illegal because he did not have an arrest warrant or a flagrante delicto situation that justified the arrest.
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IDC) issued a ruling on Thursday, October 3, condemning the Venezuelan State for the arbitrary detention of retired general Ovidio Poggioli, as well as for violating his judicial guarantees.
In the judgmentthe Inter-American Court holds the administration of Nicolás Maduro internationally responsible for violating Poggioli’s rights to freedom and personal integrity, along with the violation of due process.
«The Court determined that the detention of Mr. Poggioli by the Directorate of Military Intelligence was illegal as it did not have a court order nor was there a flagrante delicto situation and that his right to be informed of the reasons for his detention was violated by not informing him of the reason. of detention,” states the sentence.
Likewise, the inter-American instance indicates that the sentence itself is already a way to repair the damages that could have been caused to Ovidio Poggioli and also provides that the State must annul the military proceedings against the retired general.
In addition, it requires him to reform the internal regulations so that military jurisdiction only applies to those who are in active service, also giving the Venezuelan authorities six months to publish the ruling of the Inter-American Court. It also gives one year for it to be fulfilled.
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It highlights that the State must prepare a report explaining the measures adopted to comply with the provisions.
The facts of the case took place in the context of social mobilization in Venezuela between December 2001 and April 2002, when on April 19, 2002, the Ministry of Defense ordered the opening of a process in military jurisdiction against Poggioli for the alleged commission of crimes of a military criminal nature without specifying the charges.
Poggioli’s defense presented an action for constitutional protection requesting the annulment of the criminal process, which was admitted by the Constitutional Chamber, which suspended the case in 2002.
In December 2003, Poggioli was detained without a court order by the Directorate of Military Intelligence and without the reasons for said deprivation of liberty being known. Subsequently, in 2004, a second criminal trial was initiated against him, and he was accused of instigating a military rebellion. Finally, he was sentenced in 2005 to 2 years, 5 months and 10 days in prison, obtaining his full freedom in 2006.
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“In this case, Mr. Poggioli, who was not an active military member, was tried by military justice, which constituted a violation of his right to be heard by a competent court (…) The Court found that the State violated his right to to be informed in detail of the charges against him in the process initiated in 2002 and determined that the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice did not adequately base a request on an appeal for protection, which represented another violation of judicial guarantees,” explains the CourtIDH.
Relatives of retired general Ovidio Poggioli denounced the Friday, May 7, 2021 the “arbitrary detention” and subsequent “forced disappearance” of the former military officer, after he was arrested on April 27 in the state of Táchira, after returning from a medical examination that was carried out in the United States; Therefore, they indicated that they were afraid for their lives.
This was announced by his daughter María Daniela Poggioli, who stated that her father “has already served his sentence” for an event that occurred 17 years ago, “he is not prohibited from leaving the country and does not have any pending case with justice,” while adding that the former official maintains his residence in Venezuela.
The afternoon of June 17 That year, the former director of the Directorate of Military Intelligence, G/D (r) Ovidio Poggioli, was released from prison.
Poggioli left the prison where he was being held the same day as Aviation Lieutenant Colonel Ruperto Sánchez and Army Colonel José Gregorio Delgado, both accused of their alleged links to the so-called “Operation Jericho.”
With additional information from EFE
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