Versión Español
CARACAS, March 1 (Reuters) – Venezuelan intelligence agents
have entered the home of opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez, who
is under house arrest for leading protests against President
Nicolas Maduro, Lopez’s wife said on Twitter on Thursday.
The arrival of agents of the Sebin came hours after the New
York Times published a story in which Lopez described how
security forces have sought to prevent him from speaking with
reporters.
“Sebin has entered our house and they remain here,” Lilian
Tintori tweeted. “It is illegal and inhumane for Sebin to be
inside our home with weapons, in the presence of our three
children.”
The office of the vice presidency, which oversees Sebin, did
not answer calls seeking confirmation and the Information
Ministry did not respond to an email seeking comment.
Lopez is the best-known of dozens of imprisoned opposition
activists and leaders accused by Maduro of seeking to overthrow
his government through street protests in 2014 and 2017.
He was arrested in 2014 and convicted of having incited
protests against Maduro, who describes Lopez as “monster”
responsible for dozens of deaths in demonstrations.
Lopez was granted house arrest in July. After calling on
citizens to continue protests against Maduro in an internet
video, he was taken back to jail in August but returned several
days later to house arrest.
Opposition leaders and critics around the world have slammed
the case against him as a sham and described the trial as a
mockery of justice.
In 2015, one of the prosecutors who led the case said the
conviction had been unfair and that he had been under constant
pressure from superiors.
Former Chief Prosecutor Luisa Ortega, who was sacked last
year, said in February she had been pressured about the case by
high-ranking Socialist Party officials.
(Reporting by Brian Ellsworth
Editing by Bill Trott)
