Jailed opposition leader blamed for violence in Venezuela

By on 13/04/2014 | Updated on 04/02/2022

The leader of one of Venezuela’s opposition parties, Leopoldo Lopez, has been charged with inciting violence in the country.

Lopez was already being held in custody, where he has been for the last month and a half, when the chief prosecutor announced the charges against him. The decision follows anti-government protests in the country in which 39 people have been killed and hundreds injured.

In response, members of the Popular Will part that Lopez leads protested for 24 hours, demanding his release. Despite the high emotions among a group of people that included Lopez’s wife, the demonstration remained peaceful.

The case against Lopez is that he encouraged his party members to engage in acts of civil unrest, including setting fire to public buildings. If he is convicted, his sentence could be as long as 14 years imprisonment.

About Kevin Sorkin

I am the Founder and CEO of Pendragon International Media Ltd, publishers of Global Government Forum. This portfolio also includes research services and important world leading events for public servants such as the Global Government Summit, the Global Government Finance Summit, the Global Government Forum Innovation conference, Global Government Digital Summit and Putting Citizens First. I am also the founder of the Civil Service Awards and Civil Service Live, established industry leading brands and extremely important events for government. I also launched and published Civil Service World. Over the years I have established relationships with the most senior officials in government and the private sector and have built a very strong and positive reputation across the industry.

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