Venezuelan opposition politician jailed for criticizing Maduro government on social media

A court in the Venezuelan city of Valencia has ordered the imprisonment of opposition political leader Nelson Piñero of the center-right Encuentro Ciudadano party on charges of incitement to hatred. Sources close to Piñero’s defense reported that the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (Sebin) arrived at the activist’s house around midnight Monday, without a search warrant, and told his father and his son that they were carrying out an order to arrest him. Piñero’s family reported that the police entered the residence through the windows due to the politician’s reluctance to open the door.

Piñero, a regional cadre for Encuentro Ciudadano, was transferred to the Sebin headquarters in Naguanagua, north of Valencia, on accusations of having committed criminal offenses via the content of his statements on social networks. Officials told Piñero’s relatives that he would be sent to prison “for writing things on Twitter.” The denunciation of Piñero’s arrest was made public by Delsa Solorzano, a presidential candidate in the recently concluded primary elections and founder of Encuentro Ciudadano. “Today Nelson is one more political prisoner of this dictatorship, which has taken 300 citizens to jail for thinking differently”, she declared.

Solorzano, a lawyer who has worked extensively in the defense of human rights and political prisoners in Venezuela, also said that the infamous Law Against Hatred — promulgated by the now defunct Constituent National Assembly, which severed the functions of the parliament elected in 2015 — “is unconstitutional.” Solorzano added that “none of the criminal elements that they want to attribute to Nelson have any place in this case.”

The Unitary Platform, which groups together the most important opposition parties, also condemned the judicial measure against Piñero, stating that he had been jailed without a court order — one was presented a posteriori — “only for the fact of publishing his opinions on social networks.”

The opposition political alliance has asked international humanitarian organizations to intercede on behalf of Piñero and have proposed, as Solorzano also has, that his case be documented and added to the file regarding human rights violations against the government of Nicolás Maduro.

In solidarity with Piñero the Foro Penal Venezolano, an NGO linked to the defense of constitutional rights, posted a message from the politician’s son on social networks, in which he says that his father has been prosecuted “for making use of his right to freedom of expression.” Piñero’s relatives have asked Foro Penal lawyers to assist in his defense.

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