Politician transports coffin to court, denounces negligence in ex-prisoner's death

Political leader Wilmer Azuaje personally transported the coffin of Jovanny González to the Barinas Penal Judicial Circuit, staging a protest against what he described as negligence surrounding the death of the former political prisoner.

González, who served as Azuaje's assistant at the Barinas Legislative Council, died on August 26 from metastatic cancer. His death followed the denial of his amnesty requests and continued imposition of strict reporting requirements to the courts, despite his severely deteriorating health.

Standing before judicial personnel and authorities, Azuaje directly confronted judges and prosecutors, holding them responsible for the outcome of González's case. "Here is everything that has to change tomorrow, all these judges have to leave power," Azuaje exclaimed, visibly indignant. "They denied Jovanny benefits, the third judge and the prosecutors, who are corrupt and I tell them to their faces... This will change in December with the new Supreme Tribunal of Justice, and we will see what they will do."

Azuaje and González were arrested in May 2017 by agents of the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (Sebin) and remained in custody until 2018. They were then released under alternative measures that remained in effect until González's final days.

The protest outside the Barinas Penal Judicial Circuit became a public outcry against the judicial bodies that, according to Azuaje, had the power to grant González the procedural benefits that never materialized.

“

Here is everything that has to change tomorrow, all these judges have to leave power. They denied Jovanny benefits, the third judge and the prosecutors, who are corrupt and I tell them to their faces… This will change in December with the new Supreme Tribunal of Justice, and we will see what they will do.