Healthcare workers and members of the Bolivarian national police watch as an ambulance arrives with prisoners outside a hospital after a riot inside a prison in Guanare, Venezuela, on May 1, 2020. (Photo by Reuters)
Venezuelas chief prosecutor says a prison director and five soldiers will be charged for their role in the death of 47 inmates during a prison riot in the western state of Portuguesa earlier this month.
Tarek William Saab said on Thursday that members of the National Guard, which oversees prison security, "unfortunately, for containment, used firearms" instead of tear gas to disperse the inmates - who also used weapons - during a protest at the Los Llanos Penitentiary Center in Guanare earlier this month.
He said prison director Carlos Graterol would be charged as an accomplice in "introducing firearms into penitentiary centers" that the inmates used, and the five soldiers would be charged with intentional homicide and intentional homicide "in a degree of frustration" as well as "abuse of power."
Venezuelan prisons are known for levels of violence and poor conditions. Economic problems have affected the governments plans for building new prison facilities. The country has some 30 prisons with close to 50,000 inmates, most of them suffering from overcrowding and gang violence.
The deadly riot at Los Llanos occurred on May 1 after a ban was introduced on family members bringing food during visitations, which is common in Venezuelan prisons. The restriction was part of the countrys efforts to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in its overcrowded prisons.
Saab said the deaths occurred because a gang leader inside the prison ordered inmates to protest "over alleged irregularities during visits." The inmates relatives had claimed that authorities had been stealing food the families brought.
Gang leaders to also be charged
According to two witnesses and three other people familiar with the incident, inmates crowded the entrance in protest and some attempted to escape.
"In absence of a response to their claim, the prison population crossed the fence," said the prosecutor.
He said four gang leaders would also be charged with homicide and arms trafficking.
The United States has slapped harsh sanctions on Venezuela. Caracas has accused Washington of waging an economic war, which has led to hyperinflation and widespread shortages of food and medicine in Venezuela.
SOURCE: PRESS TV
LINK: https://www.ansarpress.com/english/17526
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