The Fiji TimesVenezuela releases ex-interior minister from jail; he’ll go to Spain
CARACAS (Reuters) – A Venezuelan court docket on Saturday launched former Inside Minister Miguel Rodriguez Torres from jail after he was imprisoned for almost 5 years, permitting him to journey to Spain, kin of the previous official stated.
The retired military Normal served as inside minister in 2014 however later broke with President Nicolas Maduro. He was arrested in 2018 on accusations he was concerned in a plot to “assault the unity” of the armed forces.
“Early Saturday morning, January 21, he was launched, after spending 4 years and 10 months unjustly imprisoned,” his daughters and kin stated in a press release.
A relative stated Rodriguez Torres would transfer to Spain, with out offering additional particulars.
The Venezuelan prosecutor’s workplace didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
In 2019, Rodriguez Torres went on starvation strike in protest over being held incommunicado. That elevated scrutiny over the state of affairs of Venezuelan detainees after the loss of life in captivity of navy Captain Rafael Acosta, who his household says was tortured to loss of life whereas being held by navy intelligence company DGCIM.
Rodriguez himself confronted sharp criticism for remedy of detainees whereas he was inside minister throughout a wave of opposition protests in 2014, which human rights teams say included arbitrary detentions and beatings throughout imprisonment.
