VENEZUELA-POLITICS Venezuela opposition ex-mayor calls for release of political prisoners after granted house arrest
Record ID:
144275
VENEZUELA-POLITICS Venezuela opposition ex-mayor calls for release of political prisoners after granted house arrest
- Title: VENEZUELA-POLITICS Venezuela opposition ex-mayor calls for release of political prisoners after granted house arrest
- Date: 12th August 2015
- Summary: CARACAS, VENEZUELA (AUGUST 12, 2015) (REUTERS) JOURNALISTS OUTSIDE HOUSE OF VENEZUELA OPPOSITION EX-MAYOR, DANIEL CEBALLOS, ONE DAY AFTER HE WAS RELEASED FROM PRISON VARIOUS OF DANIEL CEBALLOS, TOGETHER WITH HIS FAMILY, AT WINDOW AFTER HE WAS GRANTED HOUSE ARREST (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) VENEZUELA OPPOSITION EX-MAYOR RELEASED FROM PRISON, DANIEL CEBALLOS, SAYING: "Hope and liberty for Venezuela. I hope that the positive step that was taken by the Public Ministry will be taken for all political prisoners, that all political prisoners can wake up with their families, that the happiness that I feel today can be felt by the families of all political prisoners." VARIOUS OF CEBALLOS'S WIFE, PATRICIA CEBALLOS, SPEAKING WITH PRESS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) WIFE OF VENEZUELA OPPOSITION EX-MAYOR, PATRICIA CEBALLOS, SAYING: "He must not remain another single day in that situation. This step forward demonstrates his innocence, demonstrates that a single political decision can bring about a solution, and that soon we will not only achieve liberty for Leopoldo Lopez and all others, but for a whole country." CEBALLOS AND HIS FAMILY WAVING
- Embargoed: 27th August 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVADEPFCCH0FK5QG62Q3086GPMR3
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Daniel Ceballos, a jailed former mayor of Venezuela's western city of San Cristobal, called for all political prisoners to be released, speaking on Wednesday (August 12) a day after he was granted house arrest due to health issues.
The 31-year-old, arrested in March 2014 on accusations he fomented unrest during last year's massive anti-government protests, held a 20-day hunger strike this year that left him weak and with kidney pain, according to supporters.
Ceballos had stopped eating in part to seek the release of jailed politicians including opposition heavyweight Leopoldo Lopez, who was detained on similar charges a month before him.
Another jailed former opposition mayor, Antonio Ledezma, was in April granted house arrest due to medical problems. Lopez remains locked up in the Ramo Verde military prison.
"Hope and liberty for Venezuela," Ceballos said on Wednesday, "I hope that the positive step that was taken by the Public Ministry will be taken for all political prisoners, that all political prisoners can wake up with their families, that the happiness that I feel today can be felt by the families of all political prisoners."
At Ceballos's side on Wednesday, was his wife, Patricia Ceballos, who was elected in a landslide to replace him as San Cristobal mayor.
"He must not remain another single day in that situation. This step forward demonstrates his innocence, demonstrates that a single political decision can bring about a solution, and that soon we will not only achieve liberty for Leopoldo Lopez and all others, but for a whole country," Patricia Ceballos told reporters.
International pressure has been growing on President Nicolas Maduro to free jailed politicians, whom critics consider political prisoners paying the price for protesting crime, corruption and sky-high inflation.
Maduro says Ceballos and other activists are dangerous coup-plotters intent on destabilising his socialist government.
Ceballos, whose trial is ongoing, won the Democratic Unity (MUD) opposition coalition's primaries in May to run for a seat in upcoming December 6 parliamentary elections.
Authorities later banned him and other opposition politicians from holding office, a move critics blasted as a clampdown on dissent and an attempt to discourage voters ahead of an election the ruling socialists are forecast to lose.
U.S. officials have pressed Venezuela to release the jailed politicians during quiet high-level diplomatic talks, a U.S. official told Reuters.
The United Nations expressed concern for Ceballos' health during the hunger strike, and in October Zeid Ra'ad Al-Hussein, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, called for Lopez's release. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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