https://arab.news/c7bja
CARACAS: Venezuela released three former police officers on Tuesday who spent more than two decades behind bars under an amnesty law set to free hundreds of political prisoners this week.
Venezuela has released hundreds of political detainees since US forces captured autocratic leader Nicolas Maduro in a stunning raid on the capital Caracas on January 3.
The landmark amnesty law, which was adopted in February, is one of the most significant reforms passed by Maduro’s successor Delcy Rodriguez, under pressure from Washington.
National assembly chief Jorge Rodriguez — the interim leader’s brother — said Tuesday that Venezuela will release 300 political detainees in the coming days.
“Between yesterday and this Friday, 300 people will be released, some involved in proven criminal acts but (others) who are minors, over 70 years old or suffering from medical conditions,” Jorge Rodriguez said.
“We are going beyond the amnesty law by carrying out a process of granting benefits to these people,” he added.
The released prisoners included three former police officers linked to the brief overthrow of former leftist president Hugo Chavez in April 2002, Rodriguez said.
The trio had been in prison since 2003 and “never should have been behind bars,” rights group Foro Penal said in an Instagram post.
- ‘Keep the faith’ -
Rodriguez also cited the releases of a 16-year-old girl and a woman in her seventies on Monday, and 16 prisoners accused of offenses in the oil industry on Tuesday.
“We are not asking anything of anyone,” he said. “We simply want this gesture to be appreciated.”
Erasmo Bolivar, one of the released police officers, urged the families of political detainees to “keep the faith.”
“Stay strong, it is possible,” he said in a video published by rights group Observatorio Venezolano de Prisiones. “Going through this process is not easy at all.”
“I know it won’t be easy to reintegrate after more than two decades,” he added as he left Fenix prison in Venezuela’s Central-Western Region.
Almost 800 prisoners have been released since January, including 186 freed under the amnesty law, according to Foro Penal.
The interior ministry, for its part, says more than 8,000 people have benefited from the amnesty, including 314 released from prison and the rest granted full freedom while on parole.
Around 20 political prisoners have died in custody in Venezuela since 2014, Foro Penal said.
Interim leader Rodriguez ordered an investigation on Monday into the death of political prisoner Victor Hugo Quero Navas in state custody, whose 81-year-old mother died days after confirming her son’s passing.
Foro Penal says more than 400 political prisoners remain behind bars.