The president of the Special Commission for Monitoring the Amnesty Law for Democratic Coexistence, Jorge Arreaza, reported that the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ), together with the Public Ministry (MP), have made the competent requests to grant 379 Amnesties.
During an interview on the program “A Pulso”, broadcast by Venezolana de Televisión (VTV), he highlighted that 371 people will be amnestied in Caracas, five in Barinas, two in Portuguesa and one in Monagas, who will be released in the next few hours. He indicated that, as the cases are reviewed, the dynamic will continue to be carried out in the coming days.
It should be noted that this Friday, February 20, the Public Ministry reported that a work table was set up, which aims to “draft and approve, as agreed upon,” a protocol for the expeditious application of the Amnesty and Democratic Coexistence Law, promoted by the acting president Delcy Rodríguez and which was approved unanimously last Thursday by the National Assembly. Said protocol will guarantee that all justice administration bodies execute, quickly and effectively, the application of benefits for people related to the facts established by the aforementioned law.
He noted that he thanks the highest authority of the Judiciary, the head of the Public Ministry portfolio and the National Public Defender for the efforts that are being processed, indicating that the requests are being obtained in real time.
«The Public Ministry activates and requests the respective court, the natural judge of a person who is going to benefit, the application of the amnesty; The defense can also do it, the accused himself can do it and even, if he is already convicted, the law has several aspects,” he explained.
Fifteen continuous days to grant Amnesty
He added that they will continue to monitor in real time so that, between Monday and Tuesday, they can provide a report so that people know the actions that are being taken and those that are going to be taken. At the same time, he pointed out that, as a Special Commission, they have fifteen continuous days to grant freedoms and take amnesty measures to those people who, although not deprived of liberty, have some restrictive measure during a criminal process.
During the interview, he stated that, as of the application of the law, the criminal case is extinguished; That is to say, “if you committed a crime or were charged with the alleged commission of a crime of political violence in certain events, you no longer have crimes; “He even has no criminal record or record.”
He stressed that, although this law is granted, it does not mean that they will forget; that clearly there is an extinction of the criminal case of that person, but the facts, as such, are recorded in the memory of the people. “People in the opposition can say that an amnesty is ‘amnesia’ or ‘it erases everything’ and is forgotten, but we have argued that it is not forgotten because it is recorded in the facts and in history.”
Finally, he said that, currently, from the ranks of the Bolivarian Revolution “we are betting that the amnesty is so that we can all forgive each other, so that we can go together to defend the country with our differences.”
