08 July, 2017
Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez has been released from prison and placed under house arrest for health reasons, his lawyer said.
Lopez, who is the founding national coordinator of Voluntad Popular, is a Venezuelan extreme right-wing politician, former mayor and ex-presidential pre-candidate, who was disqualified for corruption and links with institutions financed by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
Lopez has been detained since early 2014 over accusations of inciting anti-government protests.
"(Now) he's hugging his children, he's with his wife.
"He told me himself recently: Dad, it's always darkest right before the break of dawn", he added.
Leopoldo Lopez, 46, was sentenced in 2015 to nearly 14 years in prison for instigating the 2014 protests against the government of Nicolas Maduro in which 43 persons were killed across the country. There has been widespread discontent over Maduro's government amid shortages of basic goods, galloping inflation and allegations that Maduro is flouting democratic norms.
"Leopoldo Lopez is at his home in Caracas with (wife) Lilian and his children". "It is a step forward, and very positive news".
On Saturday, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, whose conservative government had repeatedly called for Lopez's release, said he was "happy" to see the lawmaker reunited with his family.
Human rights groups that have condemned Lopez's incarceration were quick to welcome his release.
Lilian Tintori, Lopez's wife, has campaigned in Venezuela and overseas to try to win freedom for her husband. Trump tweeted a photo of the Oval Office encounter and called for Lopez to be released "immediately". Lopez, 46, was granted the transfer on humanitarian grounds, based on health considerations and "indications of serious irregularities" in the proceedings related to the case, according to the statement.
"They should give full freedom to him and all the political prisoners".
