This Tuesday, August 6th, the coordinator of the NGO ‘Foro Penal’ in Carabobo, Luis Armando Betancourt reported that upto this date, they have recorded 186 politically motivated arrests in the post-election context throughout the state.
Correspondent lapatilla.1eye.us
Betancourt, who is also deputy director of the organization, indicated that in all of Venezuela the registered number of detainees already comes up to 1,102 arrests, among which there are 100 adolescents (underage) and five indigenous people.
He denounced that private legal assistance has not been allowed to any of the people detained in the electoral context after July 29th, which, she said, is a violation of due process. “According to what the Constitution and the law provide, this is illegal, because it violates due process, the right to defense and the constitutional legal guarantee of being able to be assisted by a trusted defender. Under no circumstances can a person be forced to have a public defender and that is what we have been denouncing,” he stated.
On the other hand, Betancourt pointed out that the case of Kennedy Tejeda stands out in Carabobo, who is a lawyer and member of the Penal Forum in the state and was detained in the Montalbán municipality, after he went to verify the arrest of some people in that town.
“We continue to denounce this arbitrary detention and we hope that they will soon grant him freedom, because defending human rights is not a crime,” he said.
Regarding the arrest of the General Coordinator of the San Diego Mayor’s Office, Vicente Scarano, son of former mayor Enzo Scarano, which occurred last Friday night, Betancourt said that in recent days they learned of the transfer of Vicente Scarano to the Palace of Justice of Carabobo State, but they do not know if the hearing was held telematically or if a hearing was held in the control court.
The coordinator of the Penal Forum in Carabobo asserted that they will continue to denounce and demand before the corresponding instances, compliance with the constitutional provisions so that people who are deprived of liberty are guaranteed their human rights and that they care for the victims.