At least 60 detained after the presidential elections in Venezuela in 2024 They were released this Christmasan NGO made up of human rights activists and relatives of political prisoners reported on Thursday.
Those released were arrested in the midst of the political crisis unleashed by the re-election of President Nicolás Maduro in July 2024 for a third term, amid allegations of fraud from the opposition.
Maduro’s proclamation unleashed protests that left some 2,400 detainees that the president himself described as “terrorists.” More than 2,000 have been released, according to official figures.
The releases began at dawn this Thursday, December 25, reported the Committee for the Freedom of Political Prisoners (Clippve).
“We celebrate the release of more than 60 Venezuelans, who should never have been arbitrarily detained. Although they are not completely free, we will continue working for the full freedom of them and all political prisoners,” Andreína Baduel, head of Clippve, told AFP.
The conditions of these releases are unclear. The AFP asked the Prosecutor’s Office for details about the releases, still without a response.
According to family members, the detainees were in the Tocorón maximum security prison, located in the state of Aragua, about 134 kilometers from Caracas. This prison was enabled to house post-election detainees.
Releases are also reported from other prisons.
“We must remember that there are more than 1,000 families with political prisoners,” added Baduel, daughter of the late General Raúl Isaías Baduel, a former collaborator of former President Hugo Chávez. The soldier died in prison in 2021.
Furthermore, his brother, Josnars Adolfo Baduel, has been detained for five years accused of terrorism.
He is “in inhuman conditions and in a delicate state of health due to the consequences of torture,” he said. “It requires four urgent operations.”
In Venezuela there are at least 902 “political prisoners”according to the most recent count by the NGO Foro Penal.
