Venezuela's truth commission investigates opposition

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Opposition candidates running in Venezuela's gubernatorial elections in October will be investigated to make sure none were involved in violent political protests this year, the head of a new pro-government panel said on Wednesday.

The panel called Truth Commission was set up earlier in the day by the Constituent Assembly elected last month at the behest of President Nicolas Maduro. Government critics say the commission is designed to sideline the opposition and bolster the ruling party's flagging support ahead of the October vote.

Also before the assembly is a bill that would punish those who express "hate or intolerance" with up 25 years in jail. The opposition fears such a law would be used to silence criticism of a government that, according to local rights group Penal Forum, is already holding 676 political prisoners.

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro gives a speech at a rally in Caracas, Venezuela, Aug. 14, 2017. /Reuters Photo‍

"Whoever goes into the streets to express intolerance and hatred, will be captured and will be tried and punished with sentences of 15, 20, 25 years of jail," Maduro said last week.

Delcy Rodriguez was named as head of the commission, on top of being president of the assembly. She said she would ask the country's National Electoral Council (CNE) for information about candidates running in October.

"We have decided to ask the CNE to send a complete list of gubernatorial candidates to the truth commission in order to determine if any of the them were involved in incidents of violence," Rodriguez told the assembly, stressing this would have a "cleansing effect" on Venezuela.

Delcy Rodriguez (R), president of the National Constituent Assembly, speaks next to Venezuela's chief prosecutor, Tarek William Saab, during a meeting of the Truth Commission in Caracas, Venezuela Aug. 16, 2017. /Reuters Photo

"We have seen tweets, messages on social networks and photographs of opposition leaders responsible for convening and organizing violent events in Venezuela," Rodriguez told the commission on Wednesday.

Fired dissident got home raided

Venezuelan intelligence officers on Wednesday raided the home of the former attorney general, Luisa Ortega, who was fired this month after she broke ranks with Maduro, while her replacement urged the arrest of her lawmaker husband.

Venezuela's chief prosecutor Luisa Ortega Diaz talks to the media during a news conference in Caracas, Venezuela, April 25, 2017. /Reuters Photo

"The Sebin (intelligence service) is raiding my house right now as part of the government's revenge for our fight against totalitarianism in Venezuela," Ortega said on Twitter late Wednesday afternoon.

The Geneva-based International Commission of Jurists said in a report on Wednesday that Ortega's dismissal "removes one of the last remaining institutional checks on executive authority."

The country's new chief prosecutor, Maduro's ex-human rights ombudsman Tarek Saab, on Wednesday outlined corruption accusations against Ortega and her husband German Ferrer.

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Source(s): AFP ,Reuters