<\/p>\nListen to this article<\/span>\u00a0|\u00a0<\/span>4 mins<\/span><\/p>\n<\/button>info<\/title><path class=\"icon-main-color\" d=\"M12 0a12 12 0 1 0 0 24 12 12 0 0 0 0-24Zm-.226 3.225a2.039 2.039 0 0 1 2.155 1.924v.193a1.998 1.998 0 0 1-2.155 2.149 2.029 2.029 0 0 1-2.146-2.15 2.039 2.039 0 0 1 1.955-2.122h.193l-.002.006Zm3.227 15.525a.75.75 0 0 1-.752.75H9.75a.75.75 0 0 1-.75-.75v-1.5a.75.75 0 0 1 .752-.75h.748V12h-.75a.75.75 0 0 1-.75-.75v-1.5a.75.75 0 0 1 .752-.751h3a.75.75 0 0 1 .75.752v6.75h.75a.75.75 0 0 1 .75.749L15 18.75Z\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>More than 1,5000 political prisoners in Venezuela have applied for amnesty under a new law that came into effect just a few days ago, according to the head of the country\u2019s legislature.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA total of 1,557 cases are being addressed immediately, and hundreds of people deprived of their freedom are already being released under the amnesty law\u201d, National Assembly chief Jorge Rodriguez told a news conference on Saturday.<\/p>\n<section class=\"more-on\">\n<h2 class=\"more-on__heading\">Recommended Stories<!-- --> <\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list of 3 items<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>Rodriguez\u2019s announcement comes two days after the country\u2019s legislature unanimously adopted a landmark amnesty law.<\/p>\n<p>Amnesty is not automatic under the law: petitioners must ask the court handling their cases.<\/p>\n<p>On Friday, the lawmaker overseeing the amnesty process, Jorge Arreaza, announced that prosecutors had asked courts to free 379 prisoners. They include opposition members, activists, human rights defenders, journalists and many others detained for months or even years.<\/p>\n<p>So far, 80 prisoners have been freed, Rodriguez told the AFP news agency on Saturday. All of those released had been detained in the capital, Caracas, he said, without offering further details.<\/p>\n<p>Further releases could be granted within 15 days, said Arreaza.<\/p>\n<p>Venezuela\u2019s interim president, Delcy Rodriguez, the sister of the top lawmaker, pushed for the United States-backed legislation after she rose to power following the US\u2019s abduction of leftist leader Nicolas Maduro during a military raid on January 3.<\/p>\n<p>The legislation\u2019s approval marked a reversal for Venezuelan authorities, who have for decades denied holding political prisoners and say those jailed have committed crimes.<\/p>\n<p>During its signing, Rodriguez said the law showed that the country\u2019s political leaders were \u201cletting go of a little intolerance and opening new avenues for politics in Venezuela\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>However, opposition figures have criticised the new legislation, which appears to include carve-outs for some offences previously used by authorities to target Maduro\u2019s political opponents.<\/p>\n<p>Human rights organisations are also calling for the law to be applied to all prisoners held for political reasons, even if they are not listed among the beneficiaries.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is discriminatory and unconstitutional to exclude imprisoned military personnel and persecuted political figures,\u201d Alfredo Romero, president of rights group Foro Penal, said on X Saturday. Without this, \u201cthere can be no talk of national coexistence\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The law explicitly does not apply to those prosecuted for \u201cpromoting\u201d or \u201cfacilitating\u2026 armed or forceful actions\u201d against Venezuela\u2019s sovereignty by foreign actors.<\/p>\n<p>Delcy Rodriguez has levelled such accusations against opposition leader and Nobel peace laureate Maria Corina Machado, who hopes, at some point, to return to Venezuela from the US.<\/p>\n<p>Opposition politician Juan Pablo Guanipa, a close ally of Machado, had a house arrest order against him lifted, his brother, lawmaker Tomas Guanipa, told the Reuters news agency late on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>The law also excludes members of the security forces convicted of \u201cterrorism\u201d-related activities.<\/p>\n<p>But the amnesty extends to 11,000 political prisoners who, over nearly three decades, were paroled or placed under house arrest.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe law provides for those substitute measures to be lifted so that these people can enjoy full freedom\u201d, Rodriguez told reporters.<\/p>\n<p>Outside a national police facility in Caracas known as Zone 7, relatives \u2013 some of whom have been on site for weeks \u2013 waited patiently.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLet\u2019s hope it\u2019s true,\u201d Genesis Rojas told AFP.<\/p>\n<p>A group of relatives who have been camped out for days chanted: \u201cWe want to go home!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hundreds have already been granted conditional release by Rodriguez\u2019s government since the deadly US raid that resulted in Maduro\u2019s capture.<\/p>\n<p>Maduro and his wife are in US custody awaiting trial. <strong>He<\/strong> <strong>has pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking charges and declared that he was a \u201cprisoner of war.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Listen to this article\u00a0|\u00a04 mins info More than 1,5000 political prisoners in Venezuela have applied for amnesty under a new law that came into effect just a few days ago, according to the head of the country\u2019s legislature. \u201cA total of 1,557 cases are being addressed immediately, and hundreds of people deprived of their freedom […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13014,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13013","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latin-america-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13013","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13013"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13013\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13014"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13013"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13013"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13013"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}