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🇻🇪 Venezuela /Crime & Justice

Uruguayan jailed in Venezuela for a photo dies; found his home occupied by arresting officer

From El Nacional · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Outcome reported
  • José Ricardo Breijo Fedorchenko, an Uruguayan man described as the only foreigner imprisoned in Venezuela for political reasons, has died at age 71.
  • Breijo was arrested in late 2023 after taking a photograph of what he believed to be a flag of an Islamic militant group in Caracas.
  • He died in his apartment, with authorities awaiting autopsy results to confirm the cause of death, suspected to be a heart attack.

José Ricardo Breijo Fedorchenko, an Uruguayan national who was reportedly the sole foreigner imprisoned in Venezuela on political grounds, has died at the age of 71. His death occurred in his Caracas apartment, with his body discovered days after his last contact. Breijo's case gained attention after his arrest in late 2023. He claimed to have taken a photograph of a flag with Arabic inscriptions in an empty office, which he believed belonged to an Islamic militant group. He intended to show the photo to a rabbi but was instead apprehended by a police officer posing as security. Breijo spent months in police custody before being transferred to Tocuyito prison. His legal record in Venezuela's Supreme Court digital archives is not readily available, with the only recorded judicial entry dating back to 2007. The cause of his death is presumed to be a heart attack, pending autopsy results. Journalist and activist Carlos Julio Rojas, who helped publicize Breijo's case, last communicated with him on a Saturday, and neighbors alerted authorities on Wednesday due to strong odors emanating from his apartment.

I spoke with him on Saturday, when he sent me an extraordinary message saying he had interviewed a journalist. What we presume is that he died on Sunday.

— Carlos Julio RojasA journalist and activist who helped publicize Breijo's case, describing his last known communication and presumed time of death.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by El Nacional in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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