venezuela frees first of 80 opponents
Last Updated : GMT 09:07:40
Egypt Today, egypt today
Egypt Today, egypt today
Last Updated : GMT 09:07:40
Egypt Today, egypt today

In rare good will move

Venezuela frees first of 80 opponents

Egypt Today, egypt today

Egypt Today, egypt today Venezuela frees first of 80 opponents

Rodriguez said those affected were being held in both civilian and military prisons
Caracas - Egypt Today

Venezuelan authorities late Saturday began releasing some of those detained during demonstrations against President Nicolas Maduro's socialist government, a rare goodwill gesture to the opposition at the end of a politically torrid year.

Delcy Rodriguez, the president of the assembly and head of its Truth Commission investigating the protests, said that Christmas was "a moment of reconciliation" as she announced the decision to release around 80 people.

Among the first freed was Alfredo Ramos, mayor of the northwestern municipality of Iribarren, who was arrested late July and handed a 15 month sentence, and a dozen police officers from Chacao municipality, an opposition stronghold of Caracas.

State television showed image of Rodriguez meeting with the group.

"You go back to jail for the medical check and then you go home to spend Christmas with your families," she said.

"I feel happy for my freedom," Ramos told journalists upon his release. "It was a hard test, quite difficult."

But he also lashed out at his sentence.

"It was an arbitrary, unjust detention -- I committed no crime," he added.

Venezuela, whose oil reserves once made it the region's richest country, has been paralyzed in recent years by economic collapse and political conflict.

Opposition forces accuse Maduro of dismantling democratic institutions and setting up the Constituent Assembly to rubber-stamp his policies, with widespread protests breaking out this year.

Supplies of food and medicine have become scarce, taking an ever-greater toll on people's health, and hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans have chosen to emigrate.

The fate of those imprisoned has been a subject of negotiations between the government and the opposition Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) in the Dominican Republic, as both sides seek a solution to the country's grave political and economic crisis.

A third round of talks is set for January 11 and 12.

Earlier this week, Venezuelan opposition leaders asked Maduro to free "political prisoners" -- whose numbers one non-governmental group has put at 268 -- before Christmas as a gesture of good will.

On Thursday, the regional trade bloc Mercosur also called for their release.

The government has insisted that all are being held for acts of violence, conspiracy or treason, not as "political prisoners".

Rodriguez said those affected were being held in both civilian and military prisons, and she suggested community service as an alternative to imprisonment.

Some were detained in 2014 protests, and others this year.

Source:AFP

egypttoday
egypttoday

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

venezuela frees first of 80 opponents venezuela frees first of 80 opponents



GMT 09:51 2016 Tuesday ,29 March

Back to drawing board for new father Murray

GMT 09:17 2017 Monday ,13 February

RAK police seek help to locate missing girl

GMT 21:52 2011 Monday ,08 August

Leverkusen\'s Giefer hospitalised

GMT 23:05 2017 Wednesday ,25 January

Millions travel for China’s Lunar New Year festival

GMT 23:06 2017 Tuesday ,24 January

Pakistan military tests nuclear-capable missile

GMT 11:34 2017 Tuesday ,14 February

Artist makes NY fashion week debut on a bus

GMT 14:35 2018 Monday ,22 January

Azza Fahmy Jewellery announces UK store launch

GMT 07:41 2014 Wednesday ,19 March

Nail brand The Lacquer Lab launches

GMT 15:19 2011 Tuesday ,02 August

Orwellian Barton forced to train alone by Newcastle

GMT 12:25 2016 Wednesday ,14 December

Evaluation of Participating Companies Goes in Full Swing

GMT 13:37 2017 Monday ,25 December

Abducted Yemenis kept in chains in Houthi jails

GMT 20:05 2011 Wednesday ,20 July

Maid repatriated after 3-year ordeal

GMT 01:09 2012 Wednesday ,15 February

Elegant Patch Sofa

GMT 09:45 2016 Friday ,25 November

In French missionary retirement home

GMT 06:06 2011 Monday ,12 December

Homemade Pet treats maker

GMT 04:41 2017 Monday ,09 January

Emirates Youth Council holds first meeting of 2017

GMT 08:09 2014 Thursday ,05 June

Opel outlines growth plan until 2022

GMT 11:27 2017 Thursday ,21 December

Dollar exchange stable at Egypt's major banks

GMT 08:48 2017 Sunday ,29 October

Spain seizes control of 'independent' Catalonia

GMT 17:27 2017 Monday ,13 November

EU's Mogherini urges 'no external interference'

GMT 07:29 2017 Tuesday ,19 December

Helmy el-Namnam hails Sharjah Ruler's support

GMT 13:49 2017 Wednesday ,29 November

ARIES (March21st-April20th)
 
 Egypt Today Facebook,egypt today facebook  Egypt Today Twitter,egypt today twitter Egypt Today Rss,egypt today rss  Egypt Today Youtube,egypt today youtube  Egypt Today Youtube,egypt today youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

egypttoday egypttoday egypttoday egypttoday
egypttoday egypttoday egypttoday
egypttoday
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
egypttoday, Egypttoday, Egypttoday