Venezuela Attorney General Tarek William Saab, ally of dictator Nicolás Maduro, confirmed on Monday (11) the arrest of human rights activist Martha Lia Grajales.
According to information from the Effecto Cocuyo website, she was missing since Friday (8) and over the weekend her husband traveled jails in Caracas, where they did not confirm the detention of the woman.
Now, the prosecutor has reported the arrest in a statement on social networks, in which he accused Grajales of “incitement of hatred, conspiracy with foreign government and criminal association” due to “acts against Venezuelan institutions and the peace of the Republic.”
Grajales had been last seen by participating in a protest in front of the UN office in Caracas.
The demonstration was a response to the aggression of paramilitary groups against a vigil that family members and activists of the Mother’s Committee in defense of the Truth performed in front of the Venezuela Supreme Court (TSJ), to charge the review of cases of political prisoners from the Maduro dictatorship.
The aggression occurred on Tuesday night (5) and the mothers were attacked “with blunt objects” and kicked, reported the NGO PROVAA.
In an X post, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (Ohchr) said Commissioner Volker Türk “asks for the immediate liberation of the defender of human rights Martha Lia Grajales.”
“She was arrested after a demonstration in Caracas on August 8. Your family and lawyer must be informed about their destination and whereabouts. Your human rights must be respected,” Ohchr wrote.
