More than 700 people arrested during protests against the re-election of President Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela were transferred to two high-security prisons, the Venezuelan Penitentiary Observatory (OVP) announced on Saturday, August 31, denouncing “numerous irregularities”.
“The Nicolás Maduro regime transferred more than 700 political prisoners, arbitrarily detained after the presidential elections of July 28 in police stations throughout the national territory and taken to the prisons of Tocuyito and Tocorón”According to a press release from the OVP, the transfers took place on August 25, 27 and 30, at a cost of “numerous irregularities, including deceptions because the relatives were not notified”the NGO added.
Some 2,400 people were arrested during protests against Maduro’s re-election, a crackdown that left 27 dead and 192 injured.
Teenagers among those arrested
According to the NGO Foro Penal, which defends people imprisoned for political reasons in Venezuela, 34 of the 114 teenagers arrested since July 29 have been released. Some of these young detainees are only 13 years old and were sent to prison together with older common law prisoners, opposition leader María Corina Machado denounced this week.
In early August, the president warned that he would send protesters to Tocorón and Tocuyito, two prisons in central Venezuela known to be under the control of criminal gangs.
“To date, none of the people transferred (…) He was not allowed to contact his family or appoint a trusted lawyer.”The Observatory is concerned and the authorities do not provide information on this matter. It is believed that more than half of the people detained, that is, 1,581, are “political prisoners” by the NGO Penal Forum.
The South American oil-producing country has been in a new political crisis since the presidential elections on July 28. Nicolás Maduro, whose victory was validated by the Supreme Court on August 22, was declared the winner with 52% of the votes, but the opposition believes that his candidate Edmundo González Urrutia obtained 60% of the votes. The National Electoral Council (CNE) did not release the minutes of the polling stations, alleging computer piracy.
