On Monday, the Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo López asked the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) for access to the sentence that granted him house arrest, in order to prepare legal actions to get his freedom back.
At the gates of the Supreme Court, Juan Carlos Gutierrez, López’s lawyer, told reporters that he had not received the text of the sentence from the court, so he did not know the scope of the measure and the restrictions or rights of the political leader.
The TSJ, accused by the opposition of serving the government of Nicolás Maduro, granted house arrest to López for “health reasons”, after three years and five months in prison.
The opponent, sentenced to nearly 14 years in prison for “incitement to violence” in protests in 2014, was transferred early Saturday morning from the Ramo Verde military prison to his home in eastern Caracas.
Once he has access to the sentence to analyze it, the defense plans to present resources that
entail the absolute, full and unequivocal nullity of the process and sentence, leading to López’s complete freedom,”
said Gutiérrez.
The lawyer said that
the case has been a constant chain of serious violations of due process”
and recommended López to be extremely prudent with his words, which is why the opposition leader has not rendered any press statement or Twitter posts.
However, in a letter read by his colleague Freddy Guevara, the opposition leader announced that he was not going to give in and asked Venezuelans to continue protests against Maduro, which have left 92 dead since April 1st.
Maduro demanded “a message of rectification and of peace” from López.