Venezuela frees judge jailed for 16 years on 'spiritual corruption' charges

After 16 years, Venezuelan judge María Lourdes Afiuni has been granted full freedom as her case has been definitively closed by the country's justice system. Her family announced the decision, calling it the end of a "long and painful chapter marked by grave violations of human rights and due process." Afiuni was arrested in December 2009 after she granted bail to banker Eligio Cedeño, who was accused of illegal currency operations. Then-President Hugo Chávez publicly denounced Afiuni, calling her a "bandit" and demanding the maximum sentence. She spent time in prison until 2011, then under house arrest, and was granted conditional release in 2013. In 2019, she was convicted of "spiritual corruption," a charge her family noted meant the prosecution acknowledged she received no economic benefit. Until her full release, Afiuni's conditional liberty included restrictions on leaving her city, speaking to the press or on social media, and voting. She also lacked a passport and was politically disqualified. Her brother, Nelson Afiuni, and the family's legal representative, Thelma Fernández, stated that the closure "formally closes a case that should never have existed." They expressed gratitude to those who supported the cause but acknowledged that the definitive closure "does not erase the suffering endured nor repair, by itself, the damages caused." The case, they warned, "remains a warning for the entire region about the consequences of using the justice system as an instrument of reprisal against those who exercise their functions with independence and impartiality." They emphasized that no judge should face imprisonment or persecution for fulfilling their duties, and that judicial independence requires judges to decide free from intimidation or pressure.

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This decision definitively ends the proceedings against her and fully restores her freedom, formally closing a case that should never have existed.