Venezuela released 99 prisoners on Christmas Day, officials said, with the government calling it a goodwill gesture as it assesses arrests made after President Nicolas Maduro’s re-election.
“The national government and the justice system have decided to evaluate each case individually and, in accordance with the law”, released 99 citizens “as a concrete expression of the State’s commitment to peace, dialogue and justice”, the Ministry of Penitentiary Services said.
“They were deprived of liberty for their participation in acts of violence and incitement to hatred following the electoral day of July 28, 2024,” government officials said.
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Tumultuous post-election demonstrations followed Maduro’s widely disputed claim to re-election in 2024, with the opposition claiming victory for the now-exiled former ambassador Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia.
Around 2,400 people were arrested but nearly 2,000 have since been released.
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The release conditions for those freed on Thursday were unclear. Agence France-Presse requested details from the Prosecutor’s Office but there was no immediate response.