- Rafael Ramírez Colina was deprived of liberty on October 2 on charges of alleged corruption. Photo: Maracaibo Mayor’s Office
Vanessa Linares, wife of the mayor of Maracaibo, Rafael Ramírez Colina, denounced on October 8 that some workers at the Mayor’s Office of the capital of the state of Zulia are experiencing a “climate of persecution and intimidation.”
The opposition mayor was arrested on October 2 for alleged corruptionwithout it being known until now how much the sentence was imposed on him.
“In recent days, councilors, directors and career staff of the Maracaibo Mayor’s Office have experienced a regrettable climate of unlimited persecution and intimidation,” Linares said in a video published on his X account.
Linares added that the families of the Mayor’s Office workers live in a climate of anxiety.
“They are not allowed to do what they had been doing with my husband, which was to work for a better city,” said the mayor’s wife.
“I am going to dedicate myself to fighting for the truth, which translates into fighting for the release of my husband Rafael Ramírez Colina, who has been unjustly deprived of liberty along with his team, for whom his children are waiting at home,” Linares added.
Ramírez Colina’s wife also assured that her fight will also be for the integrity of the workers of the Maracaibo Mayor’s Office, who she assured live “under harassment.”
Case of the mayor of Maracaibo
Ramírez Colina was arrested on October 2 and, the next day, the Public Ministry indicated that he would be accused of “serious irregular acts” related to corruption.
A statement from the Prosecutor’s Office indicated that Ramírez Colina and other collaborators would be presented before a court to be charged with “serious irregular acts.”
“Based on sufficient elements of conviction and reliable evidence collected in investigations carried out in coordination with the National Anti-Corruption Police,” indicated the MP text.
In addition, a prosecutor specialized in the matter was appointed to process the alleged complaints against officials assigned to the Maracaibo Mayor’s Office for crimes provided for in the catalog of criminal types of the Anti-Corruption Law.
According to the mayor’s wife, he was prohibited from private defense during a hearing at the headquarters of the Bolivarian Intelligence Service (Sebin), in which his deprivation of liberty was ratified.
Linares added that no one has been able to see Ramírez Colina and it is not known what condition he is in.
Likewise, he stated that preventing access to private defense is contrary to due process and the legitimate right to defense established in the Constitution of the Republic.
“Once again it is demonstrated that this is an act of political persecution,” said the wife of the mayor of Maracaibo.
The mayor is one of the 154 opposition politicians who are imprisoned in the country, according to the Vente Venezuela party.
Related news
!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)
{if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?
n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};
if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version=’2.0′;
n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;
t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];
s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,document,’script’,
‘https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js’);
fbq(‘init’, ‘648851442656403’);
fbq(‘track’, ‘PageView’);
#Wife #detained #mayor #Maracaibo #denounced #persecution #employees #Mayors #Office