Jailed Venezuelan protesters could all be free by next Friday, top lawmaker says

Feb 6 - The head of Venezuela's National Assembly, Jorge Rodriguez, said on Friday that all prisoners expected to be granted clemency by a pending amnesty law could walk free within a week.

Rodriguez said in a video posted on his Telegram account that the government's amnesty law, which would grant clemency to people jailed for participating in political protests or critiquing public figures, is expected to receive final approval on Tuesday, and people would start being released that day.

"We hope that between next Tuesday and Friday, at the latest, they will all be free," said Rodriguez, who is the brother of Venezuela's interim President Delcy Rodriguez.

On Thursday, the amnesty bill passed unanimously in the first of two necessary votes at the National Assembly, which is controlled by the socialist ruling party.

The bill would lead to hundreds of people being released and would likely please the Trump administration, which has hailed prisoner releases.

Venezuela's opposition and human rights groups have said for years that the government has used detentions to stamp out dissent by politicians, members of the security services, journalists and activists, charging them arbitrarily with crimes like terrorism and treason.

While the government has always denied holding political prisoners, Rodriguez told family members of the detained that the government would "correct all the mistakes that have been made."

Rights group Foro Penal has verified that 383 political prisoners have been freed since the government announced a new series of releases on January 8. However, the group says more than 680 remain jailed, an updated count that includes prisoners whose families had not previously reported their detentions out of fear.

Government officials have said the number of releases is nearly 900, but have not provided a clear timeline and appear to be including those freed in previous years.

Among the long-time advocates of releases and amnesty is Nobel Peace Prize winner and opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who has several close allies imprisoned, including opposition politician Juan Pablo Guanipa and lawyer Perkins Rocha. REUTERS