Protest call after Venezuela opposition leader sentenced

Activists planned new protests in Venezuela on Friday after jailed opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez was sentenced to nearly 14 years in prison for inciting violence during deadly anti-government protests last year.

The opposition denounced the court decision against the popular, US-trained economist and called for peaceful protests, while the European Union labeled the verdict "harsh" and the US said it was "deeply troubled."

The sentencing could add to tensions in Venezuela, where the runaway inflation and shortages of basic goods that fueled last year's demonstrations against the administration of President Nicolas Maduro -- which left 43 people dead -- are still hitting hard.

"We call for protests to take place in a peaceful, democratic and constitutional way," Jesus Torrealba, executive secretary of the opposition coalition Democratic Unity Roundtable, said after the sentencing.

Judge Susana Barreiros found the 44-year-old Lopez guilty of "damage and arson, public incitement and conspiracy," the attorney general's office said.

He was jailed for 13 years, nine months and seven days, defense lawyer Roberto Marrero said late Thursday on Twitter.
Lopez will serve his time at the Ramo Verde military prison outside Caracas, where he has been held since February 2014.

The opposition proclaimed Lopez's innocence and called the sentencing a political decision, not a judicial one.

Another Lopez attorney, Juan Carlos Gutierrez, said the trial was plagued with irregularities, reflecting the "lack of independence" of the Venezuelan judicial system.

Lopez's wife Lilian Tintori, with whom he has two children, urged her husband's supporters to gather Friday in a square in eastern Caracas to repudiate the ruling.

"Today, it has been confirmed once again that we live in an undemocratic, corrupt and inefficient regime. After this unjust sentence, we will continue to fight," she told dozens of angry supporters.

- US, EU condemnation -

In Washington, Roberta Jacobsen, the top US diplomat on Latin America, said she was "deeply troubled" by the case.

"Call on government to protect #democracy and #humanrights in #Venezuela," Jacobson tweeted.
In Brussels, a European Union spokesperson said Lopez and a group of students also on trial had not been afforded "adequate guarantees of transparency and due legal process."

"The EU hopes that the avenues available for redress will allow to review these harsh verdicts in a fair and transparent manner."

The sentence was also condemned by Human Rights Watch and exile groups in Miami, where more than 100,000 Venezuelans have settled, many of them since the late president Hugo Chavez rose to power in 1998.

Scores of members of Lopez's center-right party held a vigil in the Caracas neighborhood of Chacao. Several women burst into tears upon hearing the verdict.

Reports quickly surfaced on social media of heavy pot-banging -- a popular sign of anger -- in downtown Caracas in opposition to the ruling.

Supporters of Lopez said one of their activists had died of a heart attack during a scuffle with pro-government supporters -- a claim that could not be independently verified.
Wielding sticks and plastic bottles, red-shirted Maduro supporters descended on a group of Lopez's followers who had been waiting since the early hours of the morning for the final phase of his trial.

"Statements made by Lopez through the media and social networks incited his followers to violence in the streets and ignore the national government and the institutions of the Venezuelan state," the attorney general's office said.

The police and national guard later intervened to keep the two groups apart.

- 'I'm innocent' -

True to his provocative style, Lopez spoke out during the closed-door hearing to which the press had no access, launching a challenge against the judge, according to members of Lopez's Popular Will party.
"If the sentence condemns me, you will be more afraid to read it than I will be to hear it, because you know that I'm innocent," Lopez defiantly told the judge, according to David Smolansky, a Caracas neighborhood mayor who was present.

The charges against Lopez are linked to protests against the Maduro administration between January and May 2014. Beyond the 43 deaths, about 3,000 people were wounded.

The first reaction by a government official came from Correctional Services Minister Iris Varela, who tweeted: "No to impunity and no justice for the cheap monster... He was responsible for 43 victims who now rest forever because of his fascist adventure."

The courtroom session began at noon and went into the night.

One of the students on trial was sentenced to 10 years in prison for participating in the riots, and two others got four years each.
Source: AFP