Venezuela releases more than 100 people imprisoned after contested election
Al Jazeera
Venezuela’s government has taken steps to release some arrested in post-election crackdown but continues to pressure opposition.
The government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has released 103 people imprisoned following the country’s contested July election, which the opposition accused Maduro of stealing.
The citizen security service, headed by Minister Diosdado Cabello, announced the prisoner release in a written statement on Thursday.
It explained that Maduro had instructed the government to review “all the cases concerning acts of violence and crimes committed in the framework of the election”.
The 103 prisoners were released during a 72-hour period, from Tuesday through Thursday. The service explained that their release came in addition to “precautionary measures” granted to other detainees on November 26.
Those “precautionary measures” also allowed 225 prisoners to be released but required them to appear before a court once every 30 days, according to the attorney general’s office.
