CARACAS, May 14 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A Venezuelan rights campaigner who was repeatedly threatened by the security forces over his activism has been arrested on suspicion of terrorism and treason, prosecutors said.
Eduardo Torres of the rights group Provea was reported missing Tuesday by the NGO based in Caracas.
Later in the day, Attorney General Tarek William Saab said Torres had been arrested “for his links to a conspiracy aimed at generating violence” during regional and legislative elections set for May 25.
He will face charges of conspiracy, terrorism and treason, Saab said in a statement.
“Eduardo is not a criminal; Eduardo is simply a defender of people’s dignity, a defender of workers’ rights,” his wife, Emiselys Nunez, told a press conference in Caracas at which activists chanted: “Where is Eduardo?”
Relatives and colleagues say Torres received multiple threats from the security forces.
A spokeswoman for the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed concern about the detention of Torres, who it said appeared to have been arrested in Caracas last Friday, with his family unaware of his whereabouts ever since.
And the International Federation for Human Rights said Torres’s disappearance was likely due to his work as a human rights activist, and said it was “deeply concerned” for him.
According to Venezuelan rights group Foro Penal, 894 people are being held for political reasons in the country, including several activists.
Some 2,400 people were arrested, 28 killed and 200 injured in a crackdown on protests that broke out last July after President Nicolas Maduro claimed victory in elections he is widely accused of having stolen. — NNN-AGENCIES
