(Caracas) Venezuela’s prosecutor’s office issued four new arrest warrants on Wednesday against people it accuses of being linked to the death of a young man “lynched” during opposition protests in 2017, while reiterating its request to Spain to extradite the main suspect.
Orlando Figuera, 21, was stabbed, doused with gasoline and burned alive during a demonstration against the government of Nicolas Maduro on May 20, 2017 in Caracas. He died a few days later, burned over 80% of his body.
The government claims that he was lynched, accused of being “chavista” (proper, favorable to the heirs of Hugo Chavez) and describes his death as a “hate crime”.
“After an exhaustive examination of the case, [le parquet] determined that prior to the incident, the victim had already had altercations with people who were committing criminal acts in that area (of the demonstration). We have requested new arrest warrants for Angel Sucre, Kleiver Hernandez, Yuber Rodriguez and Elio Carrasquel,” Attorney General Tarek William Saab said at a press conference.
“A fifth person, alias “El Malandrin” (the little thug), is being identified and was named by the victim […] as one of the people who stabbed him […]which then caused his death,” continued Mr. Saab.
Mr. Saab stressed that the prosecution had not given up on the extradition by Spain of Enzo Franchini, suspected of having started the fire on the body of the victim.
Enzo Franchini was arrested in Spain as part of an Interpol red alert. His extradition had been approved, but an appeal citing possible “violations of his human rights” blocked the procedure, according to Mr. Saab.
“And what about Orlando Figuera’s human rights?” Murdered, he agonized for a month” (14 days in reality), Mr. Saab said. “We hope that there will be a moment of conscience, of reflection on the part of the political authorities of the Kingdom of Spain and the judicial authorities, and that they will understand that this cannot be forgotten, that there is no has no forgiveness or forgetting.”
Opposition leaders and human rights organizations have denounced a heavy crackdown by police and the army on protests in Caracas and other cities, which left some 125 people dead.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) in March rejected an appeal by Venezuela against its investigation into crimes against humanity during these anti-government protests.