Human rights groups blast sentencing of Venezuelan opposition leader

Human rights groups blast sentencing of Venezuelan opposition leader
By: Mery Mogollon and Chris Kraul Published: Los Angeles Times

Human rights organizations Friday condemned a Venezuelan court's
sentencing of opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez to more than 13 years in
prison for allegedly inciting violence in nationwide protests that left
43 dead in early 2014.

"Today democrats around the world are in mourning for Venezuela," said
Garry Kasparov, the Russian former chess grandmaster who is now the head
of the International Council of the Human Rights Foundation. "Lopez's
trial has confirmed that the fundamental rights and freedoms of
Venezuelans are currently suspended."

Amnesty International said the charges against Lopez, a 44-year-old
former Caracas borough mayor and a Harvard graduate who has maintained
his innocence and says he urged nonviolence, were never adequately
substantiated.

"The prison sentence has a clear political motive," the Amnesty
statement read. "His only crime is to be a leader of an opposition party
in Venezuela."

A Caracas circuit court late Thursday night found Lopez guilty of
conspiracy to incite violence and damage to public property, in effect
blaming him for violence that in addition to the deaths left more than
800 people injured. Protesters claimed authorities violently overreacted
to marchers.

The charges stem from a nationwide wave of demonstrations that began in
February 2014 in western Tachira state by university students. The
protests paralyzed parts of the country for weeks.

Lopez, who signed a manifesto this year calling for the removal of
President Nicolas Maduro from office, has been held in a military prison
for 18 months. Caracas Mayor Antonio Ledezma, who also signed the
manifesto, was also jailed this year on charges of conspiracy to commit
violence and subsequently released on house arrest. He also denies
having advocated violence.

Lopez's wife, Lilian Tintori, said Thursday night after the verdict was
read that he urged supporters to "'maintain calm.''

"He said, 'Put the handcuffs on me because the judge and the justice
system won't take them off, only the Venezuelan people,'" Tintori quoted
her husband as saying in the court room after the verdict.

Maria Corina Machado, another prominent opposition leader who was
physically attacked on the floor of the National Assembly in 2013 before
being expelled from the congress last year, has been accused of
conspiring in a plot to kill Maduro, a charge she denies.

Former Spanish President Felipe Gonzalez said Venezuela has become a "de
facto dictatorship" and said Lopez and other political prisoners have
been accused of "violent acts that are the responsibility of the
government."

Critics say the crackdown on opposition figures has an electoral motive
with all-important National Assembly elections coming up in December.
Analysts said Maduro could be aiming to deprive the opposition of
leaders to confuse voters.

http://humanrightsfoundation.org/news/human-rights-groups-blast-sentencing-of-venezuelan-opposition-leader-00463