Outrage as Venezuela opposition chief sentenced
In this Feb 18, 2014 file photo, opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez, second from right, draped in a Venezuelan national flag, is flanked by Jose Rafael Perez, right, just before Lopez surrenders to national guards, in Caracas, Venezuela. Jose Rafael Perez is one of the young men arrested in the grisly slaying of a woman that has become yet another political flashpoint in hyper-polarized Venezuela, with supporters and opponents of the Nicolas Maduro administration each saying the killers were working for the other side. AP Photo
CARACAS, Venezuela—Supporters rallied around the wife of Venezuela’s opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez on Friday, calling for peaceful protests as he was sentenced to nearly 14 years in jail for his role in deadly anti-government demonstrations last year.
READ: Trial winding down for popular Venezuela dissident leader
The European Union joined them in denouncing a “harsh” verdict, while Washington said it was “deeply troubled” by the treatment of the US-trained economist.
Seen by critics as politically motivated, the ruling is expected to fan tensions in Venezuela, where ongoing runaway inflation and shortages of basic goods fueled last year’s protests against President Nicolas Maduro’s socialist administration.
READ: Venezuelans rally in support of jailed opposition leader
The 44-year-old Lopez was accused of inciting the violence that led to 43 deaths and some 3,000 people being wounded. Judge Susana Barreiros found him guilty of “damage and arson, public incitement and conspiracy,” the attorney general’s office said.
Lopez’s wife Lilian Tintori gave an impassioned speech before dozens of supporters in an eastern Caracas plaza, calling for people to take to the streets nationwide one week from Saturday, as the crowd chanted, “Yes we can!”
“I call on you,” she said, to come out on September 19 “to build our victory, to take over the streets peacefully and democratically, with strict discipline and no violence.”
‘Great sacrifices’
Tintori, who spoke after visiting Lopez in prison, read a letter from her husband in which he said: “I do not regret the decision that I made.”
“Great causes deserve great sacrifices,” he said.
Lopez wrote that he was “convinced of the goodness” of this cause, “which is none other than the liberation of a people that today suffers the painful consequences of a model that failed economically, politically and socially.”
The opposition leader will serve his time at the Ramo Verde military prison outside Caracas, where he has been held since February 2014.
In Washington Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States was “deeply troubled” by the conviction and sentencing.
The decision “raises great concern about the political nature of the judicial process and verdict, and the use of the Venezuelan judicial system to suppress and punish government critics,” Kerry said.
The United States has frosty relations with Venezuela, and is a frequent critic of its leftist administration. The two countries have not exchanged ambassadors since 2010.
‘Insolent meddling’
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez snapped back Friday via Twitter.
“The United States, with its insolent meddling, has kicked the timid steps” taken towards restoring bilateral ties, she wrote.
She charged that “the criminal that the United States defends promoted terrorist acts in 2014 in Venezuela,” noting that Washington’s statement came on the anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks.
In Brussels, an EU spokesperson said Lopez and a group of students also on trial had not been afforded “adequate guarantees of transparency and due legal process.”
“The EU hopes that the avenues available for redress will allow to review these harsh verdicts in a fair and transparent manner.”
The sentencing was also condemned by Human Rights Watch and exile groups in Miami, where more than 100,000 Venezuelans have settled, many of them since late president Hugo Chavez rose to power in 1998.
‘You know that I’m innocent’
The charges against Lopez are linked to protests against the Maduro administration that took place between January and May 2014.
True to his provocative style, Lopez challenged judge Barreiros during the closed-door hearing Thursday.
“If the sentence condemns me, you will be more afraid to read it than I will be to hear it, because you know that I’m innocent,” Lopez told the judge, according to David Smolansky, a Caracas neighborhood mayor inside the courtroom.
Lopez was sentenced to 13 years, nine months and seven days prison, defense lawyer Roberto Marrero said.
The first reaction by a government official came from Correctional Services Minister Iris Varela, who tweeted: “No to impunity and no justice for the cheap monster… He was responsible for 43 victims who now rest forever because of his fascist adventure.”
On Thursday, red-shirted Maduro supporters wielding clubs descended on a group of Lopez’s followers who had been waiting for the verdict.
In the scuffle Lopez supporters said one activist died of a heart attack, a claim that could not be independently verified.
The police and national guard later intervened to keep the two groups apart.
