🐂 Not all bull runs are created equal. November’s AI picks include 5 stocks up +20% eachUnlock Stocks

Venezuela frees more prisoners arrested after election, rights group says

Published 11/16/2024, 08:18 AM
Updated 11/16/2024, 12:00 PM
© Reuters. A truck with detainees passes by relatives of people detained during protests in Venezuela over the country's contested presidential election, outside a police headquarters, in Caracas, Venezuela July 31, 2024. REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini/File Photo

CARACAS (Reuters) -At least 60 people detained during protests over Venezuela's disputed presidential election in July have been released from prison, local rights group Foro Penal said on Saturday.

"Some political prisoners have been released since early in the morning," said the group's director, Alfredo Romero, in a post on X in the morning.

He said 10 people had so far been released from a prison known as Yare III, and an unspecified number of others from Las Crisalidas women's prison. Romero later said, in an Instagram post, that 50 young adults had been released from the Tocoron prison.

A video he posted showed some of them walking along a highway outside the prison, to cheers and applause from a group of onlookers.

The number of prisoner releases was expected to rise during the day.

The prosecutor's office and communications ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

According to Foro Penal, at least 1,800 people were arrested after the presidential election on July 28, which kept President Nicolas Maduro in power despite heavily contested results. Maduro took office in 2013, and is set to begin his next six-year term in January.

The election sparked deadly anti-government protests, and the opposition, rights groups and unions have accused Maduro's administration of cracking down on dissent.

Venezuela's electoral authorities and top court said

Maduro won the elections, without showing all the voting tallies, prompting supporters of opposition candidate

Edmundo Gonzalez to accuse the ruling party of fraud.

Maduro said last week that he would ask the attorney general's office to review any arrests in which authorities may have made mistakes.

More than 80 teenagers were released from prison in September, Foro Penal previously said, after being arrested during the post-election protests.

© Reuters. A truck with detainees passes by relatives of people detained during protests in Venezuela over the country's contested presidential election, outside a police headquarters, in Caracas, Venezuela July 31, 2024. REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini/File Photo

Attorney General Tarek Saab on Friday said he had asked to review at least 225 cases. He has said the protests left 28 people dead and nearly 200 injured.

Activists and relatives of some of those who were arrested said those people did not participate in the protests. They have also alleged that some prisoners have endured torture in detention.

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.