Venezuela frees more than 100 arrested after election

[Pelican Press 0]

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Venezuela frees more than 100 arrested after election

More than 100 people detained during protests over Venezuela’s disputed presidential election in July have been freed, according to a local rights group.

“Up to now we have verified 107 political prisoners, due to the post-electoral situation, released in Venezuela,” the Foro Penal group’s director, Alfredo Romero, said on social media.

The prosecutor’s office and communications ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

According to Foro Penal, at least 1800 people were arrested after the presidential election on July 28, which kept President Nicolas Maduro in power despite heavily contested results.

Maduro took office in 2013, and is set to begin his next six-year term in January.

The rights group monitored the releases at four prisons in central Venezuela, including at least 50 young adults from Tocoron prison, Romero said.

A video he posted showed some of them walking along a highway outside the prison, to cheers and applause from a group of onlookers.

The releases were expected to continue.

The election sparked deadly anti-government protests, and the opposition, rights groups and unions have accused Maduro’s administration of cracking down on dissent.

Venezuela’s electoral authorities and top court said Maduro won the elections, without showing all the voting tallies, prompting supporters of opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez to accuse the ruling party of ******.

Maduro said last week he would ask the attorney general’s office to review any arrests in which authorities may have made mistakes.

More than 80 teenagers were released from prison in September after being arrested during the post-election protests.

Attorney General Tarek Saab on Friday said he had asked to review at least 225 cases. He has said the protests left 28 people ***** and nearly 200 injured.

Activists and relatives of some of those who were arrested said those people did not participate in the protests.

They have also alleged some prisoners have endured ******** in detention.

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