This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/25/jailed-venezuelan-opposition-leader-leopoldo-lopez-goes-on-hunger-strike
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Version 1 | Version 2 |
---|---|
Jailed Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez goes on hunger strike | |
(12 days later) | |
The jailed leader of the Venezuelan opposition, Leopoldo Lopez, has declared he is on a hunger strike and called for a protest march next weekend against the socialist government. | |
Lopez, the best-known opposition activist in custody, was jailed more than a year ago for his role in instigating street protests against the president, Nicolás Maduro, that led to violence in which 43 people died and hundreds more were injured. | |
In a video from Ramo Verde prison where he is being held, Lopez, 44, said he and another jailed politician – a former San Cristobal mayor, Daniel Ceballos – were going on hunger strike “with one concrete petition: freedom of political prisoners”. | |
Ceballos was moved from Ramo Verde, which is outside the capital, Caracas, to another jail in the state of Guarico, on Saturday. | |
In the video message posted on Twitter by his wife at the weekend, Lopez also urged an end to “persecution” of government opponents, the fixing of a date for this year’s parliamentary election and a march against the Maduro government on Saturday. | |
There was no response from the government to Lopez’s message, although the state ombudsman did say on Twitter he had been disciplined in jail for possessing a mobile phone. |