Venezuelan authorities have granted amnesty to 379 political prisoners, a lawmaker said on Friday, after a new law was enacted by interim authorities following the US toppling of former leader Nicolas Maduro.
Venezuela’s National Assembly unanimously adopted the law a day before, providing hope that hundreds of political prisoners behind bars may soon be released.
National Assembly deputy Jorge Arreaza, the lawmaker overseeing the amnesty process, said in a televised interview on Friday that the 379 prisoners “must be released, granted amnesty, between tonight and tomorrow morning.”
“Requests have been submitted by the Public Prosecutor’s Office to the competent courts to grant amnesty measures,” he said.
Opposition figures have criticized the new legislation, which appears to include carveouts for some offenses previously used by authorities to target Maduro’s political opponents.
It explicitly does not apply to those prosecuted for “promoting” or “facilitating… armed or forceful actions” against Venezuela’s sovereignty by foreign actors.
Interim President Delcy Rodriguez has leveled such accusations against opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who hopes to return to Venezuela at some point from the United States.
The law also excludes members of the security forces convicted of “terrorism”-related activities.
“Many of us are aware that the amnesty law does not cover our relatives,” Hiowanka Avila, 39, told AFP outside the Rodeo 1 prison near Caracas, where many of the detainees are ex-soldiers or officers.
Her brother Henryberth Rivas, 30, was arrested in 2018 for allegedly taking part in an assassination attempt against Maduro using armed drones.
Arreaza said earlier that “the military justice system will handle” relevant cases for members of the armed forces, “and grant benefits where appropriate.”
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