A marathon hearing of at least 15 hours was held on Wednesday, October 9th, by some 80 prisoners held in the Aragua Penitentiary Center (Tocorón) to finally be put on trial for not having accepted the proposal to plead guilty to terrorism and incitement to hatred.
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“I don’t know what would have happened if they had pleaded guilty, because I think they would still be deprived of liberty, perhaps with a lesser sentence; I don’t understand that,” said the mother of one of the detainees who is from Barinas.
At 7:00 in the morning, the prosecutors of the case entered the court in Aragua and finished at 10:00 at night. During the waiting time that the relatives had, no one gave them information about what was happening.
The political prisoners were given two options: plead guilty to the crimes charged (terrorism, incitement to hatred) or be brought to trial.
“Now, there is no date for the trial and who knows when they will be given one,” said the uncle of another detainee from Barinas, recalling that his nephew has already been deprived of liberty for 56 days.
“They could not plead guilty, because they are innocent.”