The director of the human rights NGO Espacio Público, Carlos Correa,He was released by the Government of Venezuela after nine days in detention. Espacio Público, which had been monitoring the arrest, broke the news that he was released through its networks.
“In the first hours of this #16Jan, our director Carlos Correa was released from prison. We thank all the people, organizations, governments and groups that joined the voice for liberation. We continue the work for the defense of human dignity,” he explained.
The activist was arrested on January 7 in the center of Caracasthree days before the inauguration of Nicolás Maduro, with other political leaders such as Enrique Márquez.
Mabel Calderín, Correa’s wife, reported on Wednesday that she managed to meet with the prosecutor in charge of the case, who explained to her that her husband was presented on January 9 before a court specialized in terrorism. Furthermore, she stated that her husband had appeared without representation from his lawyer, but from a public defender, and he was not provided with the details of the charges against him or information about his place of detention.
President Gustavo Petro had published on his X account that one of the reasons why he did not attend Maduro’s inauguration was Correa’s arrest. He explained that Colombia’s request for maximum transparency in Venezuela’s past presidential elections had not been met, adding that “the last elections in Venezuela were not free. There are no free elections under blockades.”
Likewise, at the time the news of the human rights defender’s release was announced, Petro commented about this on his social network X.
