Global IssuesVENEZUELA: Opposition Leader Arrested for Remarks Denied Bail
Venezuelan opposition leader Oswaldo Álvarez Paz will remain in police custody in the state intelligence service (SEBIN) until his trial, a local judge ruled Wednesday, on the grounds that he was a flight risk.
The former state governor was arrested for remarks he made earlier this month on a television talk show, where he claimed that government institutions have provided support to drug traffickers and guerrillas.
'He is the first indisputable political prisoner, because the crimes he is charged with are not ordinary offences, like the charges facing other political leaders who have been arrested, prosecuted or exiled, but are political in nature,' analyst Manuel Sierra told IPS.
The prosecutor's office has accused Álvarez Paz of conspiracy (punishable by up to 16 years in prison), publicly inciting crime (three to six years) and spreading false information (two to five years).
Álvarez Paz was invited Mar. 8 to the 24-hour news channel, Globovisión, to discuss Spanish Judge Eloy Velaco's investigation of charges that the Venezuelan government aided collaboration between the Basque Country separatist group ETA and Colombia's FARC rebels.
The Hugo Chávez administration, which has publicly rejected the terrorist group ETA and has urged the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) to lay down their arms, has asked Spain for details regarding the accusation.
On the talk show, Álvarez Paz said 'Venezuela has become a centre of operations that facilitates drug trafficking deals' through 'ties between the regime and groups that serve the drug trade, like the FARC.'
Two ruling party lawmakers in parliament, Manuel Villalba and Pedro Lander, asked the prosecutor's office to investigate the opposition leader for 'instigating hatred against the country's institutions and leaders.'
As a result, the Christian Democratic politician was arrested. Prosecutors now have a month to put together a case against him, while he remains in preventive detention.
Omar Estacio, Álvarez Paz's lawyer, criticised the decision to deny bail as 'the use of the courts to persecute political opponents.'
'He has been charged with conspiracy, even though the Supreme Court has handed down rulings that set a precedent that conspiracy is a crime involving two or more people,' Estacio said. 'And the other alleged crimes supposedly caused panic or disturbed the peace - but where are the demonstrations or social unrest?'
Minister of the Interior and Justice Tarek El Aissami said Álvarez Paz was arrested 'not on instructions from President Hugo Chávez, but at the request of a court, on the basis of an investigation by the Public Ministry into an alleged crime.
'The times when justice was not the same for everyone are over,' the minister said. 'There is freedom of expression and opinion, but people are responsible for what they say.'
The president of parliament, Cilia Flores, also said Álvarez Paz 'is under arrest because he committed a crime, because he shot his mouth off.'
And referring to the opposition, she said 'What do they want? More impunity? They continue opening their big mouths, calling for destabilisation. Impunity is a thing of the past here.'
In April 2002, a two-day business shutdown and opposition protest culminated in a short-lived coup d'etat in which Chávez was overthrown for 48 hours.
Álvarez Paz's arrest triggered an outcry from the opposition, which accused the government of sowing fear, curbing freedom of speech and taking reprisals during an election year.
On Sept. 26, elections will be held for the 165-member single-chamber parliament, all of whose seats were won by pro-Chávez political forces in 2005 when the opposition boycotted the elections, alleging a lack of transparency, although no international observers found any signs of fraud. Later, a handful of lawmakers broke with the government.
The opposition hopes to win a large number of seats in the legislature this year.
In a statement, the opposition coalition Mesa de Unidad Democrática said 'Álvarez Paz is being arrested for a crime of opinion, which is inadmissible in a democracy. It is a violation of the constitution, and an attempt at sowing fear and self-censorship, to silence Venezuelans.'
The U.S. government also expressed concern over the arrest. State Department acting spokesman Mark Toner told journalists that 'We are seriously concerned about the arrest of former governor Oswaldo Álvarez Paz for simply expressing his views on a TV talk show.
'It is unfortunately the latest example of the government's continuing assault on freedom of expression,' he added.
The 67-year-old Álvarez Paz was a national legislator and later governor of the oil-rich state of Zulia, on the border with Colombia.
For several months in 1999 he backed Chávez's call for a constituent assembly to rewrite the constitution. But he soon became an outspoken critic of the left-wing president, and founded a small political group, Alianza Popular.
When he was arrested at his home in Caracas on Monday night, he said 'I assume complete responsibility for the things I have said and done' — a position that was praised as 'courageous' by parliamentarian Carlos Escarrá, a Chávez ally.
The opposition considers more than 30 people political prisoners, including former civilian and military officials accused of corruption, police chiefs who played a controversial role during the brief April 2002 coup, reporters charged with administrative offences or causing bodily injury, and trade unionists prosecuted for holding protests outside of workplaces.
© Inter Press Service (2010) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service