Venezuela: Critics Under Threat

The government of President Nicolás Maduro and its political supporters in parliament are misusing the criminal justice system to punish people for criticizing its policies, Human Rights Watch said today. In addition to the well-publicized arbitrary arrests and prosecutions of opposition politicians, Venezuelan authorities have brought criminal charges or threatened to open criminal investigations against dozens of lesser-known critics over the past year.   On July 24, 2015, National Bolivarian Intelligence Service (SEBIN) agents detained Fray Roa Contreras, a Venezuelan businessman, a day after he criticized the government’s economic policies in a CNN television interview. Contreras remains in detention and is being prosecuted for allegedly disseminating false information that “causes panic in the people or maintains them in a state of anxiety,” media reports said. More…