Activist Nélida Sánchez has been subjected to psychological torture, including direct threats against close family members, prolonged isolation and the denial of communication with her sister and nephew for months, her daughters denounced.
The relatives of Nélida Sánchez, Súmate’s national training coordinator, reported that she has been subjected to torture and cruel treatment while she has been held in Sebin Helicoide, while demanding immediate medical attention and her freedom due to her delicate health condition.
«The only thing we ask for is the freedom of my mother, the freedom of the political prisoners. Enough of the injustice, enough of them as family members making us suffer everything we have been suffering for the last year and a half. Freedom for Nélida Sánchez and freedom for political prisoners,” said Daneli Hernández, one of the activist’s daughters, in a video broadcast on social networks.
He recalled that his mother, arrested on August 28, 2024, suffers from asthma, high blood pressure, fibromyalgia and chronic venous insufficiency in both legs. In addition, he has a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder and depression made by the medical staff of the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (Sebin), caused by the detention conditions he faces in Helicoide.
There, Sánchez is held in a cell measuring 12 meters by three meters, without windows, sunlight or ventilation, and which she shares with three other people. According to his relatives, he has spent entire weeks without seeing the sun due to internal administrative changes at Sebin.
Hernández also reported that the activist has been subjected to psychological torture, including direct threats against close family members, prolonged isolation and the denial of communication with her sister and nephew for months.
In May of last year, the daughters said in a statement, a cardiovascular surgeon recommended that Nélida Sánchez undergo urgent saphenectomy (vein removal) surgery to avoid a new thrombosis. However, the intervention was never carried out.
The family pointed out that they have even been denied the possibility of bringing outside doctors or requesting an evaluation from the National Forensic Medicine Service (Senamecf).
Flawed trial against Nélida Sánchez
The national training coordinator of the NGO Súmate was put on trial along with several political figures. His family member highlighted that this is a “flawed judicial process”, where there has been no access to his file, “with false evidence” and without the possibility of having private defense.
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The activist shares the cause with seven other people “who have already been released, which makes her stay in prison even more inexplicable.” The family recalled that both Judge Ángel Betancourt and the prosecutor in the case were arrested for corruption and later released, without this having led to a review of the file.
Nélida Sánchez’s daughters stated that the arrest has devastated the entire family. Her parents, aged 96 and 79, depend on her. The family requested the urgent intervention of international organizations and human rights organizations to guarantee his immediate release.
*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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