The criminal lawyer and former prosecutor Zair Mundaray denounced that At least 16 minors and 8 adults were arrested on January 5 in the Bolívar municipality of Anzoátegui state.after allegedly celebrating the capture of Nicolás Maduro by the United States. Although they were finally released after midnight on Tuesday, January 13, the young people were left under presentation regime.
Through a statement on his count in XMundaray pointed out that the adolescents, coming from the sectors of Anzoátegui known as El Espejo, La Aduana and La Burra, They were playing in the street when they were intercepted by officials of the Bolívar Municipality Policeunder the command of its director, José Gregorio Cano.
“They were detained without any justification and then they were accused of celebrating Maduro’s arrest,” said the former prosecutor.
Charges and deprivation of liberty
Mundaray denounced that prosecutor Jesmit Milano presented the adolescents before the Control Court No. 1 of Criminal Responsibility of Children and Adolescents, following alleged instructions from the attorney general, Tarek William Saab.
Minors, between 13 and 17 years of age, They were charged with criminal association, incitement to hatred and treason.crimes that human rights organizations consider disproportionate, especially when it comes to children and adolescents. Relatives assured that they were not allowed private defense.
Judge Indira Ortiz issued a measure of deprivation of liberty and ordered the detention in the Las Casitas Neighborhood Detention Center, in Barcelona, a facility that does not have minimum hygiene conditions nor is it suitable for minors, in addition to housing adults deprived of liberty, Mundaray denounced.
The lawyer stated that local sources They reported the alleged planting of objects, such as stones and bottles, to justify the accusations made by the authorities.
Release of Anzoátegui adolescents under measures
After the community collected signatures to demonstrate the good behavior of the minors, During the early hours of this January 13, the minors were released from prison, although they remained under a regime of presentation to court. The detained adults remain deprived of liberty.
The teenagers were welcomed by their communities in Anzoátegui with displays of affection, music and hugs. In the group there are students and young athletes.
Relatives and neighbors rejected the official version and assured that the teenagers were not celebrating any political event, but rather were playing Carnival, a common tradition in the east of the country during the first days of January.
Mundaray described the case as part of a “revolving door” mechanism, in which some people are released while others are detained, generating a climate of fear and helplessness.
