- The National Coordinator of the opposition party Voluntad Popular was arrested on July 31 and his whereabouts are still unknown | Main photo: Public Prosecutor’s Office
Tarek William Saab, Attorney General of the Republic, assured on Thursday, August 1, that opposition leader Freddy Superlano, National Coordinator of the opposition party Voluntad Popular (VP), is in good health, after his arrest on July 30, 2024.
“He is in good health and is cooperating. Apart from admitting some of the things we have been describing here (…). He is providing more interesting information, because we have already identified a larger group of those who have participated in this attack on the data update system of the National Electoral Council (CNE),” said the prosecutor.
The Prosecutor’s Office thus linked Superlano to the alleged hacking that, according to authorities, the CNE suffered on Sunday, July 28, when the presidential election was taking place, which delayed the vote count.
“He was visited by prosecutors assigned to the general division of human rights, (he is) protected in his place of confinement but cooperating, providing important elements that we will gradually reveal,” added the Attorney General of the Republic.
Superlado’s wife demanded proof of life
A day after the arrest of the opposition leader, his wife, Aurora Silva, reported that Superlado could be subjected to torture methods by the State security forces, for which she demanded that the authorities give proof of life of the National Coordinator of the opposition party Voluntad Popular (VP).
“More than 24 hours have passed since the arbitrary detention of my husband, Freddy Superlano, and his assistants Renzo Salinas and Rafael García (…) I ask all Venezuelans and all the people who may receive this message to pray for him and to demand proof of Freddy Superlano’s life,” Aura Silva said on July 31.
Silva explained in an interview with the Colombian radio station Blue Radio that, during Superlano’s arrest, she was on the phone with him and heard the chase and the explosions.
“I was in Barinas and I found out because his assistant, Renzo Salinas, called me and told me that they were being attacked, shot at and chased by a van that, we presume, belongs to some government agency (of Venezuela). The armed men were shooting at the vehicle (where Freddy Superlano was) and crashed it. Then they intercepted him and took him away,” said the wife of the opposition leader.
Since the whereabouts of the opposition leader are unknown, his wife went to a Caracas court with Superlano’s legal representative, Joel García, to file a habeas corpus and demand that the opponent be brought before the courts.
Silva stressed that Superlano did not have an arrest warrant against him when he was arrested. He also said that he does not know what charges could be brought against the opposition figure.
Violation of the Penal Code
Joel García, Freddy Superlano’s lawyer, explained on July 31 that in the case of the opposition leader, a serious violation of the Venezuelan Criminal Procedure Code was committed, because after 48 hours, neither the family nor the defense attorneys have been informed of the place of detention or the reasons for his capture.
The defender said that Superlano is currently missing and that the arrest was carried out by an armed group.
Regarding Cabello’s comment that Superlano was “singing,” he indicated that Venezuelan law establishes that an accused can only testify before the Public Prosecutor’s Office or before a court. He pointed out that if Superlano is testifying before a police body, it means that he is doing so under conditions of coercion.
García added that the State is being asked to present Superlano before a control court in the next few hours. He also indicated that he will act as the leader’s lawyer, and that they are therefore urging the State to prevent him from being assigned a public defense attorney in his case.
With information from EFE
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2024-08-02 07:28:03
