CARACAS.- The Venezuelan NGO Penal Forum counted until this Friday 711 arrests during citizen protests against electoral fraud that opponents of the Nicolás Maduro regime have denounced after the National Electoral Council (CNE) offered partial results that declared the ruler the winner, but without totaling 100% of the vote counts.
The number of detainees documented by the Penal Forum corresponds to the period between July 29 and August 1.
In terms of the geographical areas where arrests have taken place, the Capital District (Greater Caracas) is where the most arrests of protesters have taken place, with 120. Next in ascending order are Anzoátegui, with 110; Carabobo, with 109; Miranda, with 53; Barinas, with 42; Zulia, with 36; Nueva Esparta, with 30; Lara, with 29; Portuguesa, with 26; Aragua, with 21; Mérida, with 20; La Guaira, with 16; Yaracuy, with 15; Trujillo, with 12; Táchira, with 12; Guárico, with 12; Cojedes, with 11; Bolívar with 9; Amazonas, with 9; Monagas, with 9); Apure, with 5; Falcón, with 4; and Sucre, with 1.
The NGO noted that among the 711 detainees, 74 are minors.
Without the right to defense
Another NGO, Provea, reported that Detainees are being denied the right to defense by not allowing the presence of private lawyers or human rights NGOs in the hearings.
“At the national level, private or NGO lawyers are not being allowed to participate in hearings or defend people detained in recent protests,” Provea denounced.
Also, Provea reported that collective hearings are being held and that all those detained are charged with the same crimes.
The regime’s attorney general, Tarek Williams Saab, said that some 1,200 people have been arrested. Maduro, meanwhile, called the protesters criminals and terrorists, and without presenting evidence, claimed that those arrested were trained in countries such as Peru, Chile, the United States and Colombia. According to the Chavista dictator, the intention was to “attack” Venezuela.
Relatives of those arrested are outside a Bolivarian National Police (PNB) command known as Zone 7 in Caracas, waiting for information. They said that “many innocent people” were arrested, who were not even protesting, but were just passing by the protest site and the officers took anyone into custody. Many of those arrested are between 16 and 18 years old, according to testimonies from their relatives and friends.
Venezuelans have been protesting since Monday after the National Electoral Council (CNE), a pro-Chavez organization, declared Nicolás Maduro the winner of Sunday’s election with 51% of the vote compared to opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia with 44%, according to the first results bulletin. The opposition rejects this count and maintains that González Urrutia won with 70% compared to Maduro’s 30% according to the minutes in its possession and published on a website.
Source: EDITORIAL / With information from El Nacional